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| Day
of terror in N.Y., Washington |
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2
hijacked jets
ram, topple
Trade Center;
another plane
hits Pentagon |
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An
explosion rocks World Trade Center Tower 1 as Tower 2
burns from a previous plane collision.
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MSNBC
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS |
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| NEW
YORK, Sept. 11 — Americans
reeled in horror Tuesday as the worst terrorist attack
in U.S. history saw two hijacked planes crash into the
World Trade Center, toppling the twin 110-story towers
where thousands of people had just arrived for work.
Within an hour, an explosion rocked the Pentagon in
Washington, where the White House, the Capitol and all
other federal buildings were evacuated. Military jets
patrolled the skies while the FAA grounded all civilian
aircraft nationwide, but not before reports of another
plane crashing in Pennsylvania. President Bush vowed to
“hunt down the folks who committed this act.” |
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‘People
were screaming and crying, afraid to go outside because of the
falling debris.’
—
MARTIN WOLK
MSNBC.com
reporter |
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AMERICAN AIRLINES said two of its aircraft, carrying a
total of 156 people, had been hijacked and were used in the
attacks. One was a Boston-Los Angeles Flight, the other had left
Washington for Los Angeles.
The fate of those in the
twin skyscrapers was not immediately known. Authorities had been
trying to evacuate the thousands of people who work in the
towers when they collapsed, trapping rescuers and workers. Much
of Manhattan was being evacuated.
“I have a sense it’s a
horrendous number of lives lost,” Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.
“I don’t know yet. Right now we have to focus on saving as
many lives as possible.”
Elsewhere, United Airlines
said a Newark-San Francisco flight had been hijacked and crashed
near Pittsburgh. The number of passengers was not immediately
available. The airline said it was “deeply concerned” about
another jetliner, which had gone missing en route from Boston to
Los Angeles. |
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Terror
attack on the U.S. |
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At the Pentagon,
officials said an aircraft crashed into part of the sprawling
complex. Walls were later seen to have collapsed.
At the State Department, an
earlier report of a car bomb proved to be unfounded.
In New York, the aircraft
struck minutes apart, starting fires and sending smoke billowing
out of the skyscrapers. The top of the south tower later
collapsed onto the street below.
The first crash happened
shortly before 9 a.m. ET. |
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MSNBC.com reporter Martin Wolk, who was inside one of the
towers, said the lights flickered and then a loud bang was
heard. People panicked and started to flee the building.
When they reached the
lobby, smoke started to fill the building and people could see
debris falling and many cars outside were damaged. “It was
sheer pandemonium, people were screaming and crying, afraid to
go outside because of the falling debris,” Wolk said. “We
looked up and it looked like the top 20 floors were in
flames.”
Another bystander described
a barrage of debris raining down on the sidewalk below.
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Attacks
on America |
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Watch
MSNBC Cable for live coverage |
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| The twin towers of
the World Trade Center have collapsed, major
federal buildings in the nation's capital have
been evacuated, and all planes into and out of
the U.S. are grounded. |
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Shortly after 9 a.m., a
second aircraft was seen crashing into the other tower.
Broadcast cameras already watching the scene filmed the second
plane as it slammed into the tower and exploded in a huge
fireball.
A half hour later,
President Bush made a brief statement to reporters, calling the
disaster a “national tragedy” and attributing it to
terrorists. He did not cite any specific terrorist groups but
vowed to “hunt down the folks who committed this act.”
The president, who had been
in Florida, was en route back to Washington and an undisclosed
location.
U.S. military jets
reportedly took to the skies to shoot down any unidentified
aircraft, and congressional leaders were taken to secure
locations. A plane was reported to have been circling the
Capitol building before the evacuation.
American Airlines later
acknowledged that one of its flights had been hijacked Tuesday
morning shortly after leaving Boston en route to Los Angeles.
The second plane might have
flown out of Newark, a U.S. official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
In Pennsylvania, a
commercial aircraft carrying 90 people crashed shortly after
takeoff. It was not clear if it was liked to the terrorist
attacks.
In New York, much of
Manhattan was evacuating as rescuers tried to regroup after the
trade towers collapsed.
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Click
on the image for reports of the terrorism attacks. |
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The center was the scene of an earlier terrorist attack:
the Feb. 26, 1993, bombing that killed six people and injured
more than 1,000 others. Terrorist Ramzi Yousef and three others
were convicted of orchestrating the attack. Three other indicted
co-conspirators remain at large.
Traffic entering New York
City from New Jersey was at a standstill approaching the Holland
Tunnel as motorists stood outside their cars watching the fire.
Across the country,
highrises like Chicago’s Sears Trade tower were being
evacuated as a precaution. Buildings were also being evacuated
in London.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
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Dozens
flee two California fires