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Tears, disbelief as New Yorkers come to terms with the tragedy

George Joseph in New York

America is still. Five hours have passed since the first American Airlines Boeing 757 hit one of the twin towers at the World Trade Centre.

Fifteen miles away, in the Bronx, one can see women crying at the tragedy that unfolded in New York on Tuesday morning. Many looked in disbelief. The streets are empty with few cars plying. The subway, the lifeline for eight million New Yorkers, was shut this morning; it has just commenced most of its services again.

The great city is now an island. No traffic is permitted as the bridges and tunnels that connect New York with the world outside have been closed. Both the JFK and La Guardia airports are closed.

Nobody knows the exact number of casualties yet. The two American Airlines flights that hit the World Trade Centre had 156 people aboard. But how many hundreds were inside the twin towers before they collapsed in a heap of dust and debris?

Nobody has an idea. On a normal day the twin towers accommodate almost 50,000 people, which is a town in itself with two postal zip codes. At 9am, just before work began, there may have been hundreds or thousands... Less than 50 deaths have been confirmed so far; another 200 injured are in hospital. How many are buried under the tonnes of debris is still not known.

The hospitals where the injured have been taken have a large number of Indian personnel, especially doctors and nurses. Though the city's schools function as usual, many parents have rushed to school to bring home their children early. Many hug their children as if some tragedy has occurred at home.

Many television stations have been working intermittently; the transmission equipment for many channels was located on top of the twin towers. Only CBS has its equipment atop the Empire State Building.

The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage

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