US closes air traffic full emergency alert ordered office complexes evacuated

Thousands dead as planes crash into WTC, Pentagon

By Masood Haider
NEW YORK, Sept 11: In what is said to be the most devastating attack on the United States since the Pearl Harbour bombing during the Second World War, unknown men launched a simultaneous air attack against US political and financial centres on Tuesday, with two hijacked aircraft slamming into the World Trade Center in New York, one crashing into the Pentagon, and a fourth in Pennsylvania. There were reports of five aeroplanes being hijacked from different airports in the United States. One of them was missing.
Fifty thousand people are employed at WTC and 24,000 at the Pentagon. New York City officials could not give casualty figures, but some TV networks put the figures in the thousands. One US TV network put the death toll at 10,000. Almost 2,000 people were admitted to hospitals in New York. *"'"President-tJercrge W: Bush immediately put the US military on a global high alert and vowed to hunt down and punish those responsible "for these cowardly acts". The terrorist attacks apparently caught US security authorities by surprise. The first sign that something went terribly wrong hit New York City shortly before 9am (6pm PST) when an American Airlines commuter plane flew low and slammed into a tower of the World Trade Center. Another plane hit the other twin tower minutes later, triggering a huge fireball that was seen by millions on TV. Both buildings collapsed an hour and half later. At about the same time as the crashes on the World Trade Center, an aeroplane crashed into the Pentagon building, the headquarters of the US defence establishment. Part of the Pentagon collapsed later. The White House, the State Department, the Capitol Hill and other federal agencies were evacuated. "Today we have a national tragedy. Two aeroplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," President Bush said shortly after the attack on the World Trade Center. Debris and dust covered nearby streets, as the city seemed to have been hit by a volcano. Stunned pedestrians sought emergency shelter while police officers evacuated the lower Manhattan section. The first plane crashed into Louisiana. Speaking to reporters on arrival at Barksdale air force base in Louisiana, Bush said the US had taken all appropriate steps to protect the American people. "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts," Bush said. Sen John McCain of Arizona called the attacks "an act of war". "I don't think our lifestyles will be the same for a long time," McCain said on TV. There was speculation in the US media that Osama bin Laden could be behind the attacks. They say that once the US is able to determine the source of attack, all the might of the United States should be unleashed to hunt and destroy the terrorist network and bring the perpetrators to justice.
266 PASSENGERS: According

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the higher section of the North tower around 8.45am (5.45pm PST) and 18 minutes later a second plane slammed into the midsection of the other tower. The South tower collapsed around 10am (7pm PST) following an explosion, and the other t o w # collapsed justfltahiutes later. New York City's Mayor Rudolf Giuliani predicted "tremendous number of lives lost" in the attack on the World Trade Center, a mammoth office complex in southern Manhattan, where about 50,000 people work and which is also a favourite sightseeing spot. As casualties mounted, the US Navy sent two aircraft carriers to New York City, apparently to cope with the aftermath of the attack. Bush, who made his first statement on the attacks from an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, immediately headed back to Washington, but the flight was later diverted to

NEW YORK: Smoke billows up after the first of the two towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on Tuesday.AFP

to airline figures, a total of 266 passengers were involved in the disasters, agencies add. Two of the flights, Boeing 767 planes originating in Boston and bound for Los Angeles, crashed to the twin towers of the World Trade Center within 18 minutes of each other, confirmed Joseph Lawless, an airport official. American Airlines flight 11, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crewmembers, crashed into the northern tower of the New York landmark at 8:48am (5.48pm PST). Just 18 minutes later, United Airlines flight 175, carrying 56 passengers and nine crew members, hit the south tower. United Airlines confirmed that its flight 93, a Boeing 757 aircraft carrying seven crew members and 38 passengers to San Francisco from Newark International Airport outside New York, crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The fourth plane was an Americans Airlines Boeing 757 carrying 58 passengers and six crew members that departed Washington's Dulles Airport, bound for Los Angeles.