Recovery crews dig, Bush visits WTC ruins
( 2001-09-15 09:29 ) (7 )

Recovery crews dug through the wet rubble of the World Trade Center in a grim search for thousands of victims on Friday while President George W. Bush made his first visit to "ground zero" since two hijacked planes destroyed the center's landmark towers.

A downpour and a stiff wind slowed the recovery effort late on Thursday and early on Friday, but that did not stop the search for possible survivors or extinguish hopes of finding someone alive.

"There is a lot of hope there are still people alive," an emergency medical worker said. "There are a lot of voids that they could be in." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani also said there was still "strong hope" people might be found alive.

Officials said almost 5,000 people were missing after the planes smashed into the 110-story twin towers within 20 minutes of each other during Tuesday morning's rush hour, destroying the buildings and damaging several others around it. About 40,000 people worked in the center on a normal day.

At the mountain of crushed concrete, twisted steel and broken glass that covers the area where the towers stood, recovery workers cheered the president and chanted "USA! USA!"

Bush took a helicopter tour of the blasted-out site with Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki. He surveyed the wreckage from the air and after landing, was driven in a convoy of vehicles to the area that has become known as "ground zero."

Under gray skies, recovery crews near the site stood and watched the convoy escorting Bush, whose visit was intended to lift morale there and throughout the city. Residents have been shaken by the disaster but were determined to recover from the atrocity.

Bush talked to recovery workers who thronged around him and raised his right arm, giving a "thumbs up" sign.

"The nation sends its love and compassion," Bush said through a megaphone to the workers. "Thank you for your hard work and thank you for making the nation proud and may God bless America."

Bush has called Tuesday's attacks "acts of war." Another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington, killing an estimated 190 people. A fourth hijacked aircraft crashed in a field in Pennsylvania and 45 people dead.

The US Department of Justice and the FBI released the names of 19 people they said hijacked the four planes in an operation that may have taken years of planning. The United States has singled out Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden as a chief suspect and was mulling its options fro retaliation.

FAMILIES CLING TO HOPE

Countless husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters visited New York hospitals and makeshift crisis centers hoping to find missing loved ones. The relatives of likely victims made tearful appeals on TV and radio and appealed to anyone who might have information about them.

Posters bearing photographs of possible victims have been plastered on telephone booths, cars, mailboxes and on the walls at the main family crisis center on Manhattan's East Side.

"It's not knowing that's the hardest part," said red-eyed Ed Kearns, 40, his New York Yankees cap pulled low over his forehead. He was waiting at the center for word and clinging to hope his wife, Donna Bernaerts Kearns, 44, was still alive.

Residents trying to return to everyday life remained nervous after agents in combat gear stormed a plane at New York's Kennedy airport on Thursday and detained a number of people. Officials later said there had been no risk of another hijacking and released most of the detainees, saying they had no connection to Tuesday's strikes.

"We are doing numerous interviews, running down hundreds, if not thousands of leads around the country," the head of the FBI in New York, Barry Mawn, said at a news conference. He added the questioning of people "is an overabundance of caution, which we are fine with."

The United Nations said it was considering scaling back or postponing the two-week-long General Assembly annual debate starting Sept. 24 because of the strain on New York security.

EFFORT TO REOPEN WALL ST. AREA

Giuliani said the city was working to clear the streets of the Wall Street financial district and "try very hard to open up as much of it as possible" for business on Monday. He said 10,425 tonnes of debris in 1,154 truckloads had been removed so far from the disaster site.

He said public schools in southern Manhattan would remain closed.

Verizon Communications said it was optimistic it would sufficiently repair communications equipment damaged by the attacks to allow the New York Stock Exchange to begin trading on Monday.

"The outlook is promising. We're gonna work like crazy to make sure we can get done what we have to get done to support the city and the industry," Verizon vice chairman Larry Babbio told a news conference. The attack on the towers, which were a symbol of America's economic might, have caused the longest stock market shut-down since the start of World War I.

The region's three major international airports reopened after being closed since late on Thursday following the security scare, officials said.

City officials did not have an update of the number of missing on Friday, but they said between 4,200 and 4,300 people had been treated in New York and New Jersey hospitals. Giuliani said on Thursday the list of those missing numbered 4,763, bodies recovered numbered 184 and 35 victims have been identified.

Officials at Bellevue Hospital said no victims of the attack had been brought in for about 36 hours. "The patients we're bringing in now are all rescue workers," a hospital official said. Another official said victims "can't get the incident out of their minds."

Major Wall Street firms had floors of trading desks, investment banking operations, research and support staff in the buildings and they have lost many employees.

Many people living below 14th Street in lower Manhattan also have not been able to return to their homes.

Churches held vigils and prayer services on a day declared as a national day of remembrance for the victims. US flags were displayed in front of homes and businesses and on the giant screen in Times Square.