M A I N   N E W S

It’s a terrorist attack: Bush

New York, September 11
US President George W. Bush today called the crashing of two planes into the World Trade Center in New York, where 40,000 persons work, an “apparent terrorist attack on our country.”

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Mr Bush today that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington “must not go unpunished”, the interfax news agency reported.

“The series of barbaric acts directed against innocent people fills us with indignation and revolt,” said Mr Putin in a telegram to Mr Bush.

NBC and CNN broadcasters, quoting unnamed airline officials, said there were reports of a plane hijacking in the New York region.

There was no confirmation that the two crashes were an act of terrorism, but the FBI was reported to be investigating the disaster.

Thousands of people were streaming out of the two towers, which were hit just about the time people were arriving at work. The buildings are the highest in Manhattan, and anchor the southern skyline, the broadcasters reported.

Eyewitnesses told television broadcasters that they first saw a small twin-engined plane hit one tower, tearing a huge gash into the upper floors of the building.

Within 10 minutes, a second larger plane, identified as a 737 passenger plane, crashed into the second tower, causing a huge explosion. Television film captured the image of the large plane as it flew into the tower.

TV viewers watched live as the second plane hit the second tower. Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that it looked like plane may have been directed at the tower deliberately.

A Reuters report from Dubai said a Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the plane attacks.

Abu Dhabi television reported it had received a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) abroad claiming responsibility for crashing two planes into the WTC buildings.

Mr Bush, as he cut short a visit to Florida to return to Washington after two planes crashed into the twin towers, called it a “difficult moment for America.”

“Today we’ve had a national tragedy. Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Centre in an apparent terrorist attack on our country,” he said, speaking before schoolchildren, teachers and parents at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, where he had planned to talk about education.

“I have spoken to the Vice-President, to the Governor of New York, to the Director of the FBI, and have ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and the families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act,” Mr Bush said.

He called for a moment of silence. “May God bless the victims, their families and America,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. DPA, Reuters