Whether through television, the radio or the Internet, the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and The Pentagon has been on our minds, and the loss of thousands of lives in our thoughts. At press time, Reuters news service reported that five firefighters had been pulled alive from the wreckage. Local television stations in New York said the firefighters were pulled from a vehicle that had been entombed in rubble after the awesome collapse of the Trade Center complex, where more than 40,000 people worked on an ordinary day. Only five other people had been saved earlier from the rubble of the two 110-story buildings, once the tallest in the city.
The official death toll stood at 94, and 70 body parts also had been recovered from the smoldering wreckage of the buildings that felled two days earlier, said New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, but the final figure is expected to rise sharply. A list of 4,763 people reported missing was assembled before the most recent rescues. The list included people on the planes, people identified by family members and information from businesses located in the Trade Center, the mayor said.
More than 300 of those missing were firefighters and emergency personnel who rushed in after the first plane hit the north tower and a second plane rammed the south tower a few minutes later on Tuesday morning. The Defense Department said yesterday that 126 people were still missing after a hijacked airliner slammed into the Pentagon, suggesting a possible death toll of about 190 at U.S. military headquarters, including the 64 people aboard the commandeered flight.
