In a horrific sequence of destruction, terrorists hijacked two airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in a coordinated series of attacks yesterday morning that brought down the twin 110-story towers. An aircraft also crashed at the Defense Department, raising fears that the seat of government itself was under attack.
Loss of life was expected to be catastrophic.
"I have a sense it's a horrendous number of lives lost," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. "Right now we have to focus on saving as many lives as possible."
Authorities had been trying to evacuate those who work in the twin towers, but many were thought to have been trapped. About 50,000 people work at the Trade Center. American Airlines said its two aircraft were carrying a total of 156 people.
Hospitals in New York were overwhelmed with patients as a massive cloud billowed into the blue skies over Manhattan.
"Hundreds of people are burned from head to toe," said Dr. Steven Stern at Saint Vincent's Hospital in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan.
`Unprecedented attack'
"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."
An Arab journalist with access to bin Laden said in London that the renegade Saudi had warned three weeks ago of an "unprecedented attack" on US interests.
President George W. Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who committed this act."
Palestinian gunmen at refugee camps in Lebanon fired into the air to celebrate news of the attacks on major US landmarks.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and the White House, the Pentagon and the US capitol building were evacuated.
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. American Airlines issued a statement saying it had "lost" two aircraft -- Flight 11, with 92 people aboard, and Flight 77 from Washington to Los Angeles, carrying 64 people.
Crash in Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed about 130km southeast of Pittsburgh. The fate of those aboard was not immediately known and it was not clear if the crash was related to the disasters elsewhere.
In a statement, the airline also said it was deeply concerned about another plane, Flight 175, a Boeing 767 bound from Boston to Los Angeles.
Authorities went on alert from coast to coast, halting all air traffic -- an unprecedented step -- evacuating high-profile buildings and tightening security at strategic installations. The Situation Room at the White House was in full operation.
At the World Trade Center, "everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone," said Mike Smith, a fire marshal. "It's like a war zone."
"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."
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