World News

America Under Fire - Part 2

Written by Joshua Smith - 12th September, 2001

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In what is developing as an almost war-like tactical offensive, the tragic attack on America is showing no sign of easing at this stage.

Just to recap and correct some of the events that have transpired during the past few hours; an as-yet unidentified aircraft collided with one of the towers of the World Trade Center. A second collision occurred just 18 minutes later involving what is believed to be an American Airlines 767. That aircraft crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center in what eyewitnesses have described as a deliberate kamikaze-style manaeouvre.

Shortly after the second collision into the New York City landmark, the United States' military nerve centre, the Pentagon, fell victim to a similar attack in which a third large aircraft is believed to have nose-dived into a helipad before careering into a portion of the structure that was occupied by the country's Army leadership.

As the World Trade Center continued to burn, the massive south tower, which is normally filled with between 20,000 and 30,000 people at any one time, collapsed upon downtown Manhattan, sending dust and rubble through the densely-populated city. Occupants of the north tower were seen desperately leaping to their death shortly after, and minutes later the second tower imploded.

A shopping plaza owned by Australian-based Westfield Holdings was situated at the base of the south tower, and it is believed that several Australians perished in the devastating attack.

Hospitals throughout New York City and Washington DC are presently being overwhelmed, and the United States has put the National Guard on alert to secure the affected areas and to assist the over-burdened local service departments. Some 10,000 emergency workers have already made their way to the affected scenes.

Every airport throughout the United States has been closed by the FAA, and international flights are being re-routed to Canada. Despite this, serious concerns remain about the fate of several airborne flights, following the downing of several commercial United Airlines and American Airlines flights.

Air space above the Pentagon and the World Trade Center are designated at Class-B air space, which is bound by the highest security restrictions.

US armed forces have established position in Washington to facilitate the President's crucially-symbolic resumption of work as the nation comes to grips with the extent of this tragic series of events.

Other federal buildings, including that occupied by the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, have been evacuated, as has the United Nations. The New York Stock Exchange, which was located just a few blocks from the World Trade Center has been shut down and trading suspended. In addition, Israel has evacuated its diplomatic embassies and the borders that Mexico and Canada share with the US have been locked down.

Previously, a Palestinian liberation group was reported to have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but a senior representative of that organisation has since disclaimed this. The FBI and various international investigation groups are continuing their attempts to uncover the responsible parties. At this stage, it's clear that the group behind the highly sophisticated attack has access to wide resources in terms of capital and experience, which automatically reduces the list of suspects to a few key terrorist organisations.