By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com 6:10:00 PM BST Sep 11, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Terrorist attacks leveled the two World Trade Center towers in New York City and rocked the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning, causing pandemonium and terror in the nation's political and financial centers. News reports estimated that 10,000 people could have perished in the destruction.
At about 8:50 a.m., Eastern, the first of two hijacked commercial jets crashed into the upper stories of the World Trade Center, followed by another attack 18 minutes later.
Authorities were frantically trying to evacuate the 50,000 people who work in the twin towers. About 150,000 to 200,000 people move through the buildings on typical weekdays.
In addition, part of the Pentagon building was said to have collapsed. The Associated Press reported there was a car bombing at the State Department in Washington. See full story.
President George W. Bush called the attack on the World Trade Center an "apparent" act of terrorism. "Today, we've had a national tragedy," Bush said, addressing the nation from Sarasota, Fla., where he had been scheduled to deliver a speech about education.
Across the U.S., the nation reacted to the crisis in widespread ways. The U.S.-Mexico border was closed. Trading at the New York Stock Exchange was suspended. The New York National Guard was called in to assist the relief effort. See full story.
A catastrophic series of events unfolded at about 8:45 a.m., Eastern. First, two airplanes struck Tower One of the World Trade Center and smoke billowed out of the top floors of the building, a business center and popular tourist attraction.
Then, approximately an hour later, Washington, D.C., was under attack in what was feared to be another act of terrorism.
Reports circulated at about 9:43 a.m. that the White House was evacuated. Fires broke out at the Pentagon and on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
The apparently well-coordinated attack on the World Trade Center occurred at rush hour as New Yorkers made their way to work in the Wall Street financial district in lower Manhattan.
In Brooklyn Heights, Dena Driver, an eyewitness to the collapse, held the hand of her 16-month-old son Liam and told CBS.MarketWatch.com: "I heard a loud crash, and you could see the building sinking, and everyone started crying.
"People were running in all directions. People with family in the buildings were there and crying," Driver said, speaking from a location just across the East River.
"In five minutes, you couldn't even see Manhattan," Driver said. "Smoke and ash were everywhere in Brooklyn Heights."
All airports around the U.S. were ordered closed by federal authorities and airline flights were halted nationwide. Further, international flights scheduled to land in New York and Washington were diverted to Canadian cities. See full story.
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the city is "trying to evacuate thousands and thousands of people" from the World Trade Center.
There were unconfirmed media reports that there were 1,000 injuries caused by the World Trade Center event.
The media reported that one of the airplanes was an American Airlines aircraft, a Boeing 767, whose flight originated from Boston.
The tragedy shattered a typically busy day in New York, which was gearing up for a mayoral primary election between Republican and Democratic candidates. The primaries were called off in the wake of the crisis
The FBI is reportedly investigating one or more reported hijackings.
Speculation was rampant that the New York Stock Exchange had been evacuated, potentially throwing into jeopardy the status of trading for the session. Calls placed to the main telephone number of the World Trade Center were not answered immediately after the news broke.
"Terrorism against our nation will not stand," President Bush said, calling for a moment of silence. He said he would call on the "full resources" of the U.S.
Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien said: "We stand ready to provide any assistance that our American friends may need at this very, very difficult hour and in the subsequent investigation."
The disasters were the most devastating in the U.S. since a federal building was exploded in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people. On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the basement garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring 1,000 more.
Jon Friedman is media editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.
http://www.ftmarketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={BB0F949F-8D4A-4DBB-A27C-74146844C64D}
In D.C., Plane Crashes Pentagon
By JERRY SCHWARTZ
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center and the twin 110-story towers collapsed Tuesday morning. Explosions also rocked the Pentagon and the State Department and spread fear across the nation.
The fate of those in the skyscrapers was not immediately known. Authorities had been trying to evacuate the 50,000 people who work in the twin towers, but many were thought to be trapped.
In D.C., Plane Crashes Pentagon
''This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that's ever taken place in the world,'' said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Transport in London. ''It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama bin Laden.''
President Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to ''hunt down the folks who committed this act.''
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, a car bomb exploded outside the State Department, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats of terrorism. And another explosion rocked New York about an hour after the crash.
Authorities went on alert from coast to coast, halting all air traffic, evacuating high-profile buildings and tightening security at strategic installations.
Evacuations were ordered at the United Nations in New York and at the Sears Tower in Chicago. Los Angeles mobilized its anti-terrorism division, and security was intensified around the naval facilities in Hampton Roads, Va.
One of the planes that crashed into the Trade Center was American Airlines Flight 11, hijacked after takeoff from Boston en route to Los Angeles, the airline said.
The planes blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. A witness said he saw bodies falling and people jumping out. About an hour later, the southern tower collapsed with a roar and a huge cloud of smoke; the other tower fell about a half-hour after that.
Firefighters trapped in the rubble radioed for help.
''Today we've had a national tragedy,'' Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. ''Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.'' He said he would be returning immediately to Washington.
The crashes at the World Trade Center happened minutes apart, beginning just before 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down on the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower.
John Axisa, who was getting off a commuter train to the World Trade Center, said he saw ''bodies falling out'' of the building. He said he ran outside, and watched people jump out of the first building. Then there was a second explosion, and he felt heat on the back of neck.
WCBS-TV, citing an FBI agent, said five or six people jumped out of the windows. Witnesses on the street screamed every time another person leaped.
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper drifted over Brooklyn, about three miles away.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall Street was suspended. New York's mayoral primary election was postponed. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
David Reck was handing out literature for a candidate for public advocate a few blocks away when he saw a jet come in ''very low, and then it made a slight twist and dove into the building.''
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
''A second occurrence is just beyond belief,'' said Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman.
''It's just sick. It just shows how vulnerable we really are,'' said Keith Meyers, 39, of Ohio. ''It kind of makes you want to go home and spend time with your family. It puts everything in perspective,'' Meyers said. He said he called to check in with his wife. They have two young children.
In New York, ''we heard a large boom and then we saw all this debris just falling,'' said Harriet Grimm, who was inside a bookstore on the World Trade Center's first floor when the first explosion rocked the building.
''The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle,'' said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
'I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.'
By HELEN O'NEILL
AP Special Correspondent
NEW YORK (AP) -- It was the scene of a nightmare: people on fire jumping in terror from the Trade Towers just before the buildings collapsed.
''Everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone,'' said Mike Smith, a fire marshal from Queens, as he sat by the fountain outside the Supreme Court building, shortly after the second tower collapsed. ''A couple of marshals just picked me up and dragged me down the street.'' More on the Story Planes crash into World Trade Center, creating horrifying scene; Pentagon, attacked
This was the horror unfolding in New York City in the wake of an apparent terrorist attack.
''I just saw the building I work in come down,'' said businessman Gabriel Ioan, shaking in shock outside City Hall a cloud of smoke and ash from the World Trade Center behind him. ''I just saw the top of Trade Two come down.''
Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay-phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives. Dust and dirt flew everywhere. Ash was 2 to 3 inches deep in places. People wandered dazed and terrified.
''People were jumping out of windows,'' said an unidentified crying woman. ''I guess people were trying to save themselves. Oh my God!''
''I was in the World Financial Center looking out the window,'' said one woman. ''I saw the first plane and then 15 minutes later saw the other plane just slam into the World Trade Center.''
Another eyewitness, AP newsman Dunstan Prial, described a strange sucking sound from the Trade Center buildings after the first building collapsed.
''Windows shattered. People were screaming and diving for cover. People walked around like ghosts, covered in dirt, weeping and wandering dazed.''
''It sounded like a jet or rocket,'' said Eddie Gonzalez, a postal worker at a post office on West Broadway. ''I looked up and saw a huge explosion. I didn't see the impact. I just saw the explosion.''
Morning commuters heading into Manhattan were stranded as the Lincoln Tunnel was shut down to incoming traffic. Many left their cars and stood on the ramp leading to the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the thick cloud of smoke pouring from the top of the two buildings.
On the streets of Manhattan, people stood in groups talking quietly or watching on television at ground-level network studios.
Joan Goldstein, communications project leader for The Associated Press, was on a bus from New Jersey at about 8:50 a.m. when she saw ''smoke pouring out of the World Trade Center building. We said, 'Oh, my God! The World Trade Center's on fire!''
Perhaps 10 minutes later, ''All of a sudden, there was an orange plume, a huge explosion. It shot out the back of the building. Everybody on the bus was just moaning and gasping,'' said Goldstein, who wept and trembled as she spoke.
The plume was from the second plane, but she didn't see the plane because of the thick smoke.
She tried to call friends who work there, but couldn't get through.
''It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen in my life,'' said Goldstein.