NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, 12 September — In the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, three hijacked planes slammed into the Pentagon and New York’s landmark World Trade Center yesterday, demolishing the two 110-story towers that symbolize US financial might.
Horrific scenes of terrified people fleeing the mayhem flashed across TV screens as the mighty twin towers located near the tip of Manhattan imploded one at a time, sending a massive plume of dust and smoke billowing over the city.
No death toll was immediately available but officials feared the number could climb into the thousands, as more than 40,000 people worked in the steel and glass Trade Center. New York officials said hundreds of firefighters and police may have perished trying to save others.
The attacks presented President George W. Bush with the sternest test of his eight-month presidency. He cut short a trip to Florida and flew to a Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, after stopping briefly in Louisiana where he vowed to bring those responsible to justice. “Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts,” the president said.
Explosions lit up the night sky in Kabul, Afghanistan, CNN reported early today. The Cable News Network showed footage of a series of flashes and flames in the Afghan capital. However, US officials said that President Bush had not ordered the attacks.
The US attacks, which involved the hijacking of four commercial planes — two from Boston, one each from Newark and Dulles, outside Washington — brought normal life across the United States to a standstill, turning the major cities of the nation into eerie ghost towns. All financial markets were closed, millions of workers sent home early, all flights around the nation were canceled and all airports shut in an unprecedented move. Markets will remain closed today.
It began shortly before 9:00 a.m. when the first plane slammed into the north tower in the heart of New York’s financial district, opening a massive hole near the top. With TV stations showing the scene live, a second plane followed 15 minutes later, scoring a direct hit on the south tower.
Minutes later came the report of a third kamikaze attack on the Defense Department in North Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington. That building, too, burst into flames. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in the building and tried to assist the victims before being evacuated.
Then came the deadliest blow of all — the death of the twin towers., which caved in one after the other. Authorities evacuated key landmarks like the White House, the fire-damaged Pentagon, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the CIA building and the Walt Disney theme parks. All baseball games were canceled.
It was the worst attack on American soil since Japanese war planes bombed the US fleet at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, killing 2,280 soldiers and 68 civilians and forcing the United States into World War II.
There were a total of 266 people on board the day’s four hijacked planes — two that crashed into the twin towers, one that slammed into the Pentagon and a fourth that crashed in a wooded area near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“I wouldn’t want to say what the death toll could be. It will be a horrible number. I saw people dropping out of windows,” a shaken New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told ABC News, adding that 200 firefighters were missing.
Yesterday’s attacks triggered scenes of panic, disbelief and heroism in the largest US city, where police and firefighters risked their lives to save people from the 110-story twin towers before their 200,000 tons of steel frame came smashing down, covering lower Manhattan in a shower of soot. “It’s nuts, there is debris and dust everywhere, and it looks as though a volcano erupted down there,” said Michael DeVita, who was working on the 84th floor of World Trade Center Building No. 2 when the first plane hit Building No. 1. Hospitals in New York were overwhelmed as a black cloud billowed into the blue skies over Manhattan where the city skyline had been dramatically and permanently altered. “Hundreds of people are burned from head to toe,” said Dr. Steven Stern at St. Vincent’s Hospital in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan. Rescue workers used commuter ferries to carry victims across the Hudson River to safety in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the scene resembled a war zone.
Disaster relief agencies said they were working with the military to rush thousands of pints of blood to New York City and Washington to treat an untold number of injuries from aerial hijack attacks in those cities.
At 11 a.m. yesterday morning Americans in the Gulf were alerted by the State Department that over the last several months, the US Government had learned that US citizens and interests abroad might be at increased risk of a terrorist action from extremist groups. In addition the notice mentioned the American military in Korea and Japan were also potential targets. The alert also stated that there was still a concern with information received by the US government in May 2001 that American citizens might be the target of a terrorist threat from extremist groups with links to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaida organization.
