passengers are ferried in a boat to safety. — Reuters

New York, January 16
Passengers from the US Airways plane that crash-landed in New York’s Hudson River huddled on the wings in freezing air while those in the icy water went limp from the cold and would not have survived more than a few minutes, rescuers said.

None of the 155 people on board were seriously injured, officials said, despite the frigid conditions and the river’s swift current. But many were panicked and frightened as they were pulled from the wrecked plane, said local ferry crews and police divers who were first on the scene.

Many passengers climbed out onto the wrecked plane’s wings, while some clambered into an inflated rescue raft and others floundered in the water, said Wilfredo Rivera, a ferryboat deckhand who helped pull dozens of passengers to safety.

“Everyone was nervous. Everybody was screaming. Everyone was in shock,” Rivera said. Two New York Police Department divers who dove from helicopters to rescue distraught passengers said the river’s temperature was at its coldest of the winter, at about 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 Celsius).

The passengers in the water would not have survived for more than five or ten minutes, said Detective Michael Delaney, one of the divers. They were weak and lethargic from the chill and could not pull themselves out, he said.

“Their extremities were frozen cold,” he said, adding of one woman, “She was just pretty much limp at that time.”

The air temperature was around 20 F, or minus 6 C, on a day that saw heavy snow storms in the morning. One frantic woman was clinging to the side of a ferry boat but could not hold on, Delaney said. “She said, ‘Please don’t let me go,’” he said.

Vince Lombardi, a ferryboat captain with NY Waterway which operates service on the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey said passengers voiced their relief when he steered his boat in to help with the rescue. “They were cheering when we pulled up,” he said. “There were a lot of scared people.”

Javier Soto, a passenger on a ferry on the way from Manhattan to New Jersey, described how people on the boat pitched in to help.

“There were people standing on the wing. They were all afraid to take the dive,” he said. “We grabbed as many as we could.”

Another ferry captain, Juan Rosario, said he saw the plane go down in what he called a smooth landing. “It was going down slow. It looked like he was doing a good job of it,” he said. “It was a nice descent. It went right in.” Then, he said, “You heard a big splash.” — Reuters

New York, January 16 
The pilot of the US Airways jet that crashed into icy waters off New York was hailed as a hero today after coolly overseeing the miraculous escape of 155 passengers and crew.

The pilot - identified by US media as former fighter pilot Chesley Sullenberger III - was praised by survivors and officials for smoothly landing the jet belly-first onto the Hudson River.

The soft landing allowed passengers to make a successful evacuation from the stricken craft and saw Sullenberger swiftly dubbed “The Hero of the Hudson.” “It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river, and then making sure that everybody got out,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters.

“I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off. And tried to verify that there was nobody else onboard. And assures us there were not.

“The first and most important thing is, this pilot did a wonderful job, and it would appear that all roughly 155, including crew and one infant, got out safely,” Bloomberg said.

New York Governor David Paterson added: “We’ve had a miracle on the Hudson.” Passengers also praised the pilot’s actions when the Airbus A320 was forced to make a watery crash-landing after taking off on its flight from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina. — AFP

Pakistan has formally informed India about the steps taken in response to the international community’s demands regarding the Mumbai terror strikes. In a meeting with Indian High Commissioner, Satyabrata Pal, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Friday handed over a letter from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and another detailed note on the Pakistan’s response to the 26/11 dossier.

According to a statement of Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Secretary also discussed with the Indian envoy the ongoing probe and other measures, including actions initiated by Pakistan to implement sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa and leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba into the Mumbai attack. 

Bashir “mentioned that an official inquiry has already been launched as announced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan in his address to the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) on January 13.” He said it is essential that both the countries move along together to counter the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan’s response comes a day after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Islamabad should inform New Delhi through diplomatic channels about steps it had taken in the wake of the Mumbai strikes.

Doha, January 16 
Hamas said on Friday it would not accept Israeli conditions for a ceasefire and would continue to fight until Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip ends. Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Palestinian Islamist group, called on leaders at the opening of an emergency meeting on Gaza in Doha to cut all ties with the Jewish state.

“Despite all the destruction in Gaza, I assure you: we will not accept Israel’s conditions for a ceasefire,” Meshaal told the meeting in Doha, which was attended by the presidents of Syria, Iran and Lebanon. Heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt were absent.

The meeting in Qatar conflicted with another meeting by Arab foreign ministers in Kuwait to discuss the three-week-old Israeli offensive that has highlighted deep splits in the Arab world over Gaza, where the death toll has exceeded 1,100. — Reuters

Washington, January 16
A 20-year old man “strongly suspected” to have killed an Indian-techie, working with the scam-hit Satyam Computers, has been arrested by the police in the Arkansas state of the US.

The Little Rock Police is interrogating the suspect in connection with the killing of Andhra Pradesh engineer Akshay Vishal, who was shot dead on Tuesday. Name and other details of the arrested suspected assailant have not been released yet by the police, however the local media identified the arrested person as 20-year-old Brandon Johnson. Robbery is believed to be the prime motive behind the murder, investigations so far have revealed, the police said. — PTI