Posted on 09/11/2001 9:17:10 AM PDT by t-shirt
Markets slump after Trade Center blast Aircraft crash into World Trade Center, Pentagon
By Vince Heaney, FTMarketWatch 4:52:00 PM BST Sep 11, 2001
LONDON (FTMW) -Markets slumped to fresh year lows in the wake of what President Bush called "apparent terrorist" attacks.
Two planes crashed into the world Trade Center in New York causing the collapse of both towers of the building. Three planes are reported to have crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, causing part of the building to collapse.
The director of the World Trade Center said that up to 10,000 people could have been in each tower.
The White House, Pentagon and other key government buildings were evacuated, all flights in the U.S. have been grounded, and all incoming flights have been diverted to Canada.
The FTSE 100 [UK:1805550] slumped 5.7 percent to 4,746 and the FTSE TechMARK index [UK:1859502] finished 4.6 percent lower at 1,278.9. See pan-European markets report See London's volume movers at a glance <
Crude oil prices surged in the wake of the disaster, with October Brent Crude prices trading at $30.69 a barrel, up more than $3 a barrel. Oil majors were among the FTSE gainers, with BP [UK:BPA] up 4.9 percent and Shell [UK:SHEL] up 2.2 percent.
The only other FTSE gainer was aerospace and defence firm BAe Systems [UK:BA] which gained 4.7 percent.
Insurers plunged on the London market. CGNU [UK:CGNU] fell 9.9 percent, Royal Sun Alliance [UK:RSA] dropped 15.2 percent and Prudential [UK:PRU] slid 12.4 percent.
British Airways [UK:BAY] was another sharp decliner off 21 percent, with news of the grounding of all flights in the U.S. Airports operator BAA [UK:BAA] lost 16.4 percent.
Hotels and leisure group Hilton [UK:HG] dropped 21 percent.
Currency markets also saw wild swings in the wake of the U.S. attacks. Sterling reached a 6-month high against the dollar around 1.4690, and recently traded at 1.4630. The dollar spiked sharply against the euro, reaching a high around 0.9090, up from 0.8975 before the blast.
Gold surged in the wake of the news, rising $16 an ounce to $287 an ounce in London.
The New York stock exchange delayed the market open indefinitely. Sky News reported that Canary Wharf in London was also being evacuated, but Canary Wharf Group [UK:CWG] told FTMarketWatch the building was not being evacuated, but remained on standby. Canary Wharf shares fell 8 percent.
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Sept. 11, 2001
`Apparent' terrorism strikes hit U.S.
By Jon Friedman,
CBS.MarketWatch.com
4:39:00 PM BST Sep 11, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Apparent terrorist attacks leveled the World Trade Center in New York and rocked the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., Tuesday morning, causing pandemonium and terror in the nation's political and financial centers.
Both towers at the World Trade Center collapsed after two hijacked commercial jets crashed into the upper stories. In addition, part of the Pentagon building was said to have collapsed. The Associated Press reported there was a car bombing at the State Department in Washington.
President George W. Bush called the attack on the World Trade Center an "apparent" act of terrorism.
"Today, we've had a national tragedy," Bush said, addressing the nation from Sarasota, Fla., where he had been scheduled to deliver a speech about education.
A catastrophic series of events unfolded at about 8:45 a.m., Eastern. First, two airplanes struck Tower One of the World Trade Center and smoke billowed out of the top floors of the building, a business center and popular tourist attraction.
Then, approximately an hour later, Washington, D.C., was under attack in what was feared to be another act of terrorism.
Trading at the New York Stock Exchange was suspended.
Reports circulated at about 9:43 a.m. that the White House was evacuated. Fires broke out at the Pentagon and on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
The apparently well-coordinated attack on the World Trade Center occurred at rush hour as New Yorkers made their way to work in the Wall Street financial district in lower Manhattan.
In Brooklyn Heights, Dena Driver, an eyewitness to the collapse, held the hand of her 16-month-old son Liam and told CBS.MarketWatch.com: "I heard a loud crash, and you could see the building sinking, and everyone started crying.
"People were running in all directions. People with family in the buildings were there and crying," Driver said, speaking from a location just across the East River.
"In five minutes, you couldn't even see Manhattan," Driver said. "Smoke and ash were everywhere in Brooklyn Heights."
All airports around the U.S. were ordered closed by federal authorities and airline flights were halted nationwide. Further, international flights scheduled to land in New York and Washington were diverted to Canadian cities.
"Everybody's panicking," an eyewitness in New York shouted on a CNN broadcast not long after the tragedy occurred, underscoring the terror and confusion throughout the morning.
There were unconfirmed media reports that there were 1,000 injuries caused by the World Trade Center event.
The media reported that one of the airplanes was an American Airlines aircraft, a Boeing 767, whose flight originated from Boston.
The tragedy shattered a typically busy day in New York, which was gearing up for a mayoral primary election between Republican and Democratic candidates. The primaries were called off in the wake of the crisis
The FBI is reportedly investigating one or more possible hijacking cases Speculation was rampant that the New York Stock Exchange had been evacuated, potentially throwing into jeopardy the status of trading for the session. Calls placed to the main telephone number of the World Trade Center were not answered immediately after the news broke.
"Terrorism against our nation will not stand," President Bush said, calling for a moment of silence. He said he would call on the "full resources" of the U.S.
The disasters were the most devastating in the U.S. since a federal building was exploded in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people. On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the basement garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring 1,000 more.
Jon Friedman is media editor for CBS.MarketWatch.com in New York.
Plane attacks leave New York paralyzed, U.S. shocked
------------------------------------
BY MARC FERRANTI, IDG NEWS SERVICE (September 11, 2001)
In what President George W. Bush called an "apparent terrorist attack," two airplanes flew into the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center just before 9 a.m.
today, leading to loss of life, paralyzing city ground and air traffic and halting trading on stock exchanges. The attack led the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to close all U.S. airports.
"Today we've had a national tragedy; two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," Bush said in remarks broadcast after the incident.
Immediately after the explosions, officials at the Nasdaq Stock Market and New York Stock Exchange said they would suspend trading. By about 10:30 a.m., both of the twin towers of the World Trade Center had collapsed.
In addition, an explosion -- another apparent plane attack, according to media reports -- occurred at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, right after the World Trade Center incidents. Both the Pentagon and the White House were evacuated, as were buildings throughout major cities in the U.S.
No reports of the number of deaths or injuries were announced within the first hour of the attacks, though local eyewitnesses speaking on radio and television said they had seen bodies on the ground in the World Trade Center area.
One of the planes that flew into the World Trade Center was a Boeing 767 that had taken off from Boston and then was hijacked, according to media reports. Reports also said the plane was an American Airlines flight headed to Los Angeles.
"I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who have committed this act. Terrorism against this nation will not stand," Bush said in his remarks.
Major Internet news sites slowed to a crawl or became inaccessible. Telephone communication also became sluggish.
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NBC TV News Has Reported 10,000 likely dead.
Afghan opposition leader injured in suicide bombing attack
By KATHY GANNON,AP
KABUL, Afghanistan (September 10, 2001 10:01 a.m. EDT) - The military chief of forces fighting Afghanistan's ruling Taliban was unconscious and in serious condition with head injuries Monday after a suicide bombing attack, his brother said.
Ahmed Shah Massood, 48, underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Tajikistan after two men posing as journalists detonated a bomb that may have been hidden in a television camera. The blast Sunday in northern Afghanistan killed both bombers and one of Massood's spokesmen, said Bismillah Khan, another Massood spokesman.
The loss of Massood would devastate the opposition, already a fractured collection of groups who fought each other when they ruled much of Afghanistan for four years until the Taliban took control in September 1996. Their deposed government still holds Afghanistan's seat in the United Nations and operates embassies in several capitals of the world.
The Taliban, a hard-line Islamic militia, currently rules roughly 95 percent of the country, with Massood's alliance in control of the remaining 5 percent, mostly in the north.
Kahn accused the Taliban of sending the suicide bombers into Massood's territory. Taliban officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The opposition originally had said Massood only suffered leg wounds; however, Ahmed Wali, Massood's brother and the opposition's ambassador in Britain, said the injuries were more serious.
"The doctor says it will be 10 or 12 hours before we know" whether he will survive, Wali told The Associated Press by telephone. "His condition is stabilizing, but he is still unconscious. All we can do is rely on the doctors."
Wali said the veteran Afghan commander was flown immediately to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, following the explosion. Massood met briefly with several of his commanders before being operated upon, Wali said. He has been unconscious since the surgery.
The most serious injuries were head wounds caused by shrapnel. Massood also suffered wounds to his leg and hands.
Since the suicide bombing Sunday afternoon, there have been conflicting reports about the extent of Massood's injuries, with the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reporting his death.
According to Wali, the suicide bombers were traveling on Belgian passports, with a multiple Pakistani visa issued by the Pakistan embassy in London.
"The whole thing was organized by Pakistanis and some Arab circles, that was for sure," Wali said.
According Khan, the explosion happened soon after the interview began on Sunday around 4 p.m. at Massood's base in Khodja Bahauddin in northern Afghanistan's Takhar province.
In addition to both bombers, the blast killed spokesman Azim Suhail, Khan said. Khan was reached by satellite telephone from Kabul, the Afghan capital, which is ruled by the Taliban.
The two bombers were welcomed into opposition territory as journalists. They first conducted interviews with opposition soldiers in Shomali, about 30 miles north of Kabul, then were taken to meet Massood, Khan said.
The bomb was either hidden in the camera or concealed around the waist of one of the bombers, said Mehrab Mastan, the opposition's ambassador in Paris, who spoke to AP by telephone.
Mastan said the interview was conducted in the office of Suhail, the spokesman. The two journalists and Suhail were sitting at one end of the room, with Massood several feet away.
Massood is the military head of the anti-Taliban alliance, whose political leader is ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani. He was Rabbani's defense chief during his rule of most of Afghanistan from 1992 until 1996, when the Taliban took power.
He has repeatedly accused the Taliban of sending foreign fighters to the front line, particularly guerrillas from Arab countries and neighboring Pakistan. The Taliban have denied the accusation.
That certainly would have been true in the old days, but I dont know about now. Today, 10,000 parents surround Columbine listening to their kids get murdered. It would not be hard to believe that only the Pennsylvania plane had a pilot that refused, thus the crash that did not go inot a building.
If the Pennsylvania plane did not succeed, then somehting different happened on that plane, like resisting. If the Pennsylvania plane did not have a terrorist to fly it, then none of them did, and the other 3 pilots did what they were told.
I think only 1 of the 4 pilots resisted, and forced crashed his plane.
Some-Body! Some-Place! Knew!!
No terrorist is going to let the success of his plan rest with someone else.
In any event it is very hard to make that final dive on target as the Japanese found during WW II.
September 11, 2001 Posted: 4:14 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT)
WTC gone
CNN News
2 p.m.: Senior FBI sources tell CNN they are working on the assumption that the four airplanes that crashed were hijacked as part of a terrorist attack.
1:48 p.m.: President Bush leaves Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana aboard Air Force One and flies to an undisclosed location.
1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five battleships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, and head to positions in the New York area and along the East Coast. The carriers are to provide upgraded air defense for the New York and Washington areas.
1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.
"Attacks cowardly"
1:04 p.m.: Bush, speaking from Barksdale Air Force Base, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says: "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.
12:15 p.m.: The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.
Soot-covered man
12:15 p.m: San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of American Airlines Flight 77, which was one of the aircraft to strike the World Trade Center.
12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of two of the hijacked American Airlines flights, is evacuated.
11:59 a.m.: United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. Emergency personnel at the scene say there are no survivors.
11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, has crashed in Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh. The airline also says that it is "deeply concerned" about United Flight 175.
Stunned onlookers
11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 en route from Washington's Dulles Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 is believed to be one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
11:16 a.m.: CNN reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing bioterrorism teams to respond to the incidents in a precautionary move. The preparation is not based on any known bioterrorism threat.
NYC Mayor Guiliani
11:02 a.m.: New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani urges citizens to stay at home and orders an evacuation of the area south of Canal Street.
10:57 a.m.: New York Gov. George Pataki says all state government offices are closed.
10:54 a.m.: Israel evacuates all diplomatic missions.
10:53 a.m.: New York's primary elections scheduled for today are postponed.
10.48 a.m.: Police confirm the crash of a large plane in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10.46 a.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States.
10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.
Second tower falls
10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.
10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.
10:22 a.m.: In Washington, the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along with the World Bank.
10:13 a.m.: The United Nations building evacuates, including 4,700 people from the headquarters building and 7,000 total from UNICEF and U.N. development programs.
Crash scene in PA
10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.
10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:08 a.m.: Secret Service agents armed with automatic rifles are deployed into Lafayette Park across from the White House.
First tower collapes
10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.
9:57 a.m.: Bush departs from Florida.
9:45 a.m.: The White House evacuates.
Pentagon burns
9:43 a.m.: An aircraft crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.
9:30 a.m.: Bush, speaking in Florida, says the country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9:21 a.m.: New York City Port Authority orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York City area closed
9:17 a.m.: The FAA shuts down all New York City area airports.
Plane hits WTC
9:03 a.m.: A second plane, apparently a passenger jet, crashes into the second World Trade Center tower and explodes. Both buildings are burning.
8:45 a.m.: A large plane, possibly a hijacked airliner, crashes into one of the World Trade Center towers, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire
FEMA, Pentagon, Top Officials Meet
AP
Filed at 12:39 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and other top federal officials huddled Tuesday in the wake of the terrorist attacks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its operation center to respond to the attacks.
FEMA officials did not disclose any details of its plan, other to say that they were working with the White House, FBI and other agencies.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Glenn Flood said all the Defense Department's leaders were safe, including Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Senior officials staffed the agency's National Military Command Center, a secure room at the Pentagon. Rumsfeld and other top officials left the building and are at an undisclosed location.
``We have contingency plans and that's all I can say,'' Flood said.
List of Planes That Crashed Today>{? ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:20 p.m. ET
Details on the planes that crashed Tuesday:
--American Airlines Flight 11: A Boeing 767 en route from Boston to Los Angeles. The plane was carrying 81 passengers, nine flight attendants and two pilots. The location of the crash has not been determined.
--American Airlines Flight 77: A Boeing 757 en route from Dulles Airport near Washington to Los Angeles. The plane was carrying 58 passengers, four flight attendants and two pilots. The location of the crash has not been determined.
--United Airlines Flight 93: A Boeing 757, crashed southeast of Pittsburgh while en route from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco. The plane was carrying 38 passengers, two pilots and five flight attendants.
--United Airlines Flight 175: A Boeing 767. The flight was bound from Boston to Los Angeles. It was carrying 56 passengers, two pilots and seven flight attendants. The airline would not say where the plane crashed.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (September 11, 2001 9:56 a.m. EDT) - The White House was evacuated Tuesday after the Secret Service received credible threat of a terrorist act against the presidential mansion and residence, The Associated Press has learned.
ZDNET NEWS
Reuters story
UA confirms two crashes, 110 aboard
CHICAGO, Sept 11--United Airlines confirmed two of its flights crashed with a total of 110 people aboard on Tuesday, the day hijacked planes crashed into major U.S. landmarks in the worst terror attack on the mainland in modern history.
One plane departed from Newark bound for San Francisco and one from Boston to Los Angeles on Tuesday, United said.
United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757, departed Newark with 38 passengers on board, two pilots and five flight attendants. It did not hit a major U.S. landmark but crashed near Pittsburgh, a United spokeswoman said.
The second aircraft, a Boeing 767 Flight 175, departed from Boston with 56 passengers on board, two pilots and seven flight attendants. The spokeswoman said she did not know where the plane had crashed.
"Today's events are a tragedy and our prayers are with everyone at this time," said James Goodwin, chief executive of United, the major operating unit of UAL Corp., in a statement.
Three hijacked planes crashed into New York's mighty World Trade Center twin towers and into the Pentagon in Washington. --Reuters
September 11, 2001 Posted: 2:21 PM EDT (1821 GMT)
(CNN) -- Two airplanes crashed separately into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan shortly before and after 9 a.m. EDT in terrorist attacks that erased the 110-story towers from the Manhattan skyline.
The FBI was investigating reports that the first plane, a commercial flight from Boston, may have been hijacked. An eyewitness told CNN that about 8:45 a.m. he saw a 767 flying low down the center of Manhattan and then veering left to fly directly into the south side of the north tower.
About 20 minutes later, as crowds gathered on the streets watching the flames from the first crash, a smaller plane rammed the second tower of the World Trade Center, exploding on impact. The towers have a total of as many as 50,000 occupants, and witnesses reported that people began jumping from windows to escape smoke, fire and the building's impending collapse.
" People were jumping out of the windows," an unidentified woman said through tears to a CNN reporter. "You can see them jumping out of the windows, if you go by there you can see them jumping out the windows right now!"
At 10 a.m. the 1,300-foot south tower folded in on itself, crashing to the street. Black smoke billowed skyward as pedestrians scrambled for cover as chunks of the building's walls rained to the ground. At 10:28 a.m. the first tower, struck by a commercial American Airline flight, also tumbled to earth.
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in a building near the World Trade Center after the first tower's collapse.
"We were trapped in the building for about 20 minutes because of the smoke and debris," Giuliani said.
Inches of ash from the towers' collapse cloaked buildings, emergency vehicles and people who were in the immediate area.
As the first tower began crumbling, pedestrians scrambled, some crouching behind cars and covering their heads as police officers screamed for people to leave the area.
Hospitals respond Hospitals throughout the city began receiving hundreds of 100 people in emergency rooms suffering from smoke inhalation and critical injuries, CNN's Maria Hinjohosa reported. Passers by began streaming into the hospitals to donate blood. Hospitals in New York reported a severe blood shortage and solicited donations from the public.
Shortly before 11:30 a.m. Bellevue Hospital in New York reported treating 24 adult patients, including four trauma patients and a pregnant woman. One man was dead on arrival.
Nydia Negron, director for public information with Metropolitan Hospital, confirmed the hospital had received seven patients. "All are currently in stable condition but we have not ascertained the type or severity of the injuries," she said. There was no casualties among those brought to Metropolitan, she said.
North General Hospital in Manhattan was "in full disaster alert, which means we will utilize all manpower and recourses," said Lisa Alverenga, senior vice president for planning at the hospital. "We have beds available and have cleared our emergency department. We'll also be collecting blood for those who wish to donate."
Unknown number of casualties
A man who worked in the basement of the first struck tower told CNN that he heard an explosion "and then the elevator opened up and I saw a man and his skin was all off. I pulled him out and helped him into an ambulance."
"I don't even want to contemplate what the number will be" of those injured and killed, Guiliani said.
Mary Margaret Walker, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the agency dispatched search-and-rescue units and will begin a structural search of the ruined structures.
The Federal Aviation Administration closed all airports in the United States just before 10 a.m. and routed all international flights bound for New York to Canada. Giuliani and New York Gov. George Pataki canceled the election that was scheduled in the city Tuesday.
It was the second terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. Six people died in a basement level explosion in the World Trade Center in February 1993.
Built on six acres of landfill, the World Trade Center complex includes seven high-rise buildings, a shopping mall and a daycare center. The two largest buildings, called the Twin Towers, collapsed.
The complex also includes a 47-story high-rise building, a 22-story structure, two nine-story buildings and an eight-story facility. Its complex is also a hub for a commuter rail station.
September 11, 2001 Posted: 1:38 PM EDT (1738 GMT)
(CNN) -- "Faceless cowards" carried out Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, President Bush said Tuesday afternoon, and he promised that the United States would "hunt down and punish" those responsible.
Here is a transcript of the president's statement:
"Freedom itself was attacked this morning by faceless cowards. And freedom will be defended.
"I want to reassure the American people that the full resources of the federal government are working to assist local authorities to save lives and to help the victims of these attacks.
"Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts. "I've been in regular contact with the vice president, secretary of defense, the national security team and my cabinet. We have taken all appropriate security precautions to protect the American people. Our military at home and around the world is on high alert status and we've taken the necessary security precautions to continue the functions of your government.
"We have been in touch with the leaders of Congress and with world leaders to assure them that we will do whatever is necessary to protect America and Americans.
"I ask the American people to join me in saying a thanks for all the folks who have been fighting hard to rescue our fellow citizens and to join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families.
"The resolve of our great nation is being tested. Make no mistake. We will show the world that we will pass this test.
"God bless."
Washingtonians leave offices, wonder what to do next
[In the wake of Tuesday's terror attack on the Pentagon, a rescue helicopter surveys damage to the Pentagon as firefighters battle flames.]
pictured on website
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 — In the hours after Tuesday’s terror attacks, Washington looked like a city under siege. The nation’s capital and neighboring Virginia were under a state of emergency. But this was no Sarajevo, with refugees carrying their belongings on their backs. This was a metallic refugee caravan: Cars were stacked up like dominoes, all trying to get out of city.
SECURITY PERSONNEL wearing flak jackets and armed with M-16s stood watch at the entry to military facilities scattered throughout the city, watching every move. Secret Service agents toting machine guns directed civilians on the streets. F-16 military jets flew over the city on surveillance missions.
Outgoing highway arteries were at a standstill, with traffic jams backing up into residential neighborhoods. Authorities turned many roads into one-way routes to speed up the evacuation.
All federal buildings — including the White House and the Capitol — were ordered evacuated in the minutes and hours after a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon.
In the middle of the Pentagon’s courtyard, at the center of the five-sided building, medical personnel dealt with the casualties.
“Bulls-eye,” said one aid worker.
Robert Malson, president of the D.C. Hospital Association, said all medical facilities in the area were “on maximum alert.” Malson said he had reports on victims arriving at hospitals, but he refused to release the number, citing ”security reasons.”
Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., said it received 26 patients from the Pentagon, with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
At the Capitol, senators stood alongside office workers on the streets.
One senator — Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska — said Tuesday’s attacks amounted to a “second Pearl Harbor.”
“I’m asking myself if it can happen in America,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., told Reuters outside the Capitol. “Obviously it can. It looks like a coordinated effort.”
A young congressional aide asked a reporter on the street: “Where should I go? Where should I go? I just heard there was another explosion.” The aide was urged to keep walking away.
Congressional leaders were taken to a secure location. President Bush was in Florida when the attacks occurred and stayed away from the capital.
At midmorning, an airplane was heard flying overhead near the Capitol, prompting scores of pedestrians to freeze in their tracks and look skyward for several seconds before the sound faded away.
A tall man in a gray suit led a group of people on the lawn outside the Capitol in prayer and bells on Capitol Hill could be heard playing “America the Beautiful.”
A uniformed Secret Service agent, holding an automatic weapon, directs evacuees from a building near the White House on Tuesday. The Capitol, White House, Pentagon, State Department and other buildings were evacuated as an apparent terror attack spread chaos in the nation's capital.
PANIC AND CALM
About a quarter-million federal workers were sent home early as a result of the evacuations, officials said. Some Washingtonians were on the edge of panic.
“I’m totally freaked out. Hearing the plane going over my head was frightening,” Elissa Brainard, 29, told Reuters as she joined the 150-yard line to get her car from the parking garage.
Drivers ran red lights and sped across intersections, sending pedestrians scattering. Police near the White House tried to direct traffic, but a few blocks away chaos reigned, thwarting the efforts of emergency vehicles.
Wailing sirens from fire engines, police patrols and ambulances mingled with car horns, whistles and human cries.
“Everything is going crazy. People are getting so stressed out,” one office worker said.
Attack on America
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.
Pedestrians hurried away from the federal quarter and clutched cellular telephones to their ears, desperately trying to reach loved ones. But cellular telephone networks seemed to be disrupted, and people began to line up at public phones.
“I’m terrified. We tried to call on the cell phone but they weren’t working,” office assistant Val Thornton said.
Thornton, whose commuter bus takes her past the Pentagon to her Virginia home, said she did not know how she would get out of the city.
Others seemed unfazed by the emergency.
When his building was evacuated, Roger Connor had been chairing a meeting of Christians, Jews and Muslims about how to help poor people in the United States. The group left the building — but Connor, struggling up a street on crutches, said he refused to be deterred by the attacks.
“Our original meeting place was close to the White House, so we had to evacuate but we’re moving to a different office because our meeting is going to continue,” he said.
The Williams family from Atlanta said their tourist trip was continuing as planned.
“We are carrying on with our Washington sightseeing, just with a little extra caution,” Carl Williams said, standing alongside his wife and teen-age sons. “We’re headed to New York tomorrow, but we’re going to drive.”
MSNBC’s Elliot Zaret and Brock Meeks, as well as Reuters, contributed to this report.
USA Military Now Under ThreatCon Delta---The Highest Possible State of Emergency Alert.
Taliban Condemn Attacks in U.S.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:44 p.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers condemned the devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on Tuesday and rejected suggestions that Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
The Taliban's ambassador to neighboring Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said bin Laden, the Saudi dissident who has been given asylum in this troubled nation, does not have the facilities needed to carry out such well-orchestrated attacks.
``It is premature to level allegations against a person who is not in a position to carry out such attacks,'' he said. ``It was a well-organized plan and Osama has no such facilities.''
U.N. sanctions are currently in place against Afghanistan to press the Taliban to hand over bin Laden for trial in connection with the 1998 bombings of two U.S. Embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people.
The Taliban, a religious militia, promotes a harsh brand of Islam in the roughly 95 percent of Afghanistan under its control.
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