World Trade Center towers collapse in 'apparent terrorist attack'

[Guest guest]

World Trade Center towers collapse in 'apparent terrorist attack'

09/11/2001

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News

WFAA-TV video

. Second plane crashes into World Trade Center

. President Bush statement on terrorist attacks

. South tower of World Trade Center collapses

NEW YORK - F-16 Fighter jets are headed toward a plane authorities believe was

hijacked and headed toward the Pentagon, which partially collapsed after a plane

crashed into it this morning, according to CNN.

The World Trade Center towers collapsed after two planes crashed into them this

morning. Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center

Towers minutes apart today and a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in what

the President Bush said was an apparent terrorist attack There are unconfirmed

reports that a car bomb exploded outside the State Department. All federal

buildings, including the Capital and the White House, are being evacuated in

Washington.

Another plane crashed this morning 80 miles south of Pittsburgh, according to

CNN.

There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries. About 50,000 people work in

the World Trade Center. Witnesses told the Associated Press they saw bodies

falling and people jumping from the trade center. Second explosions occurred in

each tower just before their collapse.

The Federal Aviation Administration has halted all flights nationwide, according

to CNN. International flights into New York have been diverted to Canadian

airports.

The president ordered a full-scale investigation to " hunt down the folks who

committed this act. "

The twin tower plane crashes, which happened shortly before 8 a.m. Dallas time,

blasted fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story buildings.

One of the planes that crashed into the towers was a hijacked American Airlines

Boeing 767 from Boston to Los Angeles.

When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge

hole in the glass and steel tower.

" Today we've had a national tragedy, " Bush said. He called it " an apparent

terrorist attack. " Former NTSB spokesman Ira Furber discounted likelihood of

accident.

" I don't think this is an accident, " he said on CNN. " You've got incredibly good

visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment. "

" It's just not possible in the daytime, " he added. " A second occurrence is just

beyond belief. " The towers were struck by terrorist bombers in February 1993,

killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.

Several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall Street was

suspended.

" The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle, "

said Murtagh, a CNN vice president, reported.

" I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom, " Jeanne Yurman told CNN. " The side of

the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear

ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire. "

Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over

Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the

agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and that

the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission.

The source stressed that the reports are preliminary and officials do not know

the cause of the crashes.

" It certainly doesn't look like an accident, " said a second government official,

also speaking on condition of anonymity.

In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th

floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.

In Sarasota, Fla., Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when

his chief of staff, Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly

turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a

half-hour later.

Barker, a student at Borough Manhatten Community College, four blocks

from the World Trade Center, was along studying in the library when he said " a

loud boom shook the building about 9 a.m. " He reported seeing falling debris and

glass in the reflection of buildings nearby and flames erupting from the top of

the structure.

He said students began coming out of classrooms, some crying, before officials

began evacuating the building. Barker has just gotten off work at R.R. Donnelley

and Company, just two blocks from the Trade Center.