WTC Missing May Soon Be Declared Dead

Sept. 24, 2001 -- The rescue mission continues in the ruins of New York's World Trade Center but the city has begun preparations to declare those still missing as legally dead.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said today the families of thousands still missing since the terror attacks of Sept. 11 could apply for death certificates as soon as Wednesday if they chose.

"If they're ready by Wednesday, then they can deal with it by applying for a death certificate," he told a news conference.

New York Gov. George Pataki today signed an executive order speeding up the process for World Trade Center victims to get death certificates.

Giuliani said lawyers would be appointed to work free of charge with families to prepare affidavits and other documents needed to prove someone was in the buildings at the time of the attack. He insisted, however, that rescue efforts would continue.

No survivors have been pulled out of the wreckage since the day after two hijacked planes destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and 6,453 people remain missing. Rescuers have recovered 271 bodies, 206 of whom have been identified. Among them are 40 firefighters and seven other uniformed officers.

There are an additional 189 people missing or dead from the terrorist attack on the Pentagon the same day. A fourth hijacked plane went down in rural Pennsylvania, after passengers apparently tried to wrest control of the aircraft from the terrorists. All 44 on board were killed.

As he announced the option of applying for death certificates, Giuliani once again urged residents of the beleaguered city to resume their normal routines.

"The best way to get your children to not be afraid is to not be afraid yourself," the mayor implored residents.

Mayor Considers His Own Future

Giuliani is believed to be weighing whether to try to continue as the city's mayor, but refused to announce his decision today. Term-limit laws block his re-election.

The Republican mayor has drawn near-universal praise for his handling of the crisis, and his supporters hope to change the city's election laws or extend his current term.

Today, however, he insisted he had made no decision about remaining as mayor.

"I'm not ready to make a statement now," he said. "I need time to reflect on what I'm going to do."

The mayor encouraged residents to vote in the city's primary elections Tuesday, and to choose a mayoral candidate from the printed ballot, instead of writing him in.

"It would not make sense to write my name in," he said.

Meanwhile, Giuliani concentrated on moving the city closer to its normal routines and rhythms. He said more than half of the roughly 10,000 people displaced by the WTC attack have returned to their homes in lower Manhattan. Emergency Red Cross shelters in the area began to close, though officials said they would still counsel people and assist as needed.

Yankee Stadium Hosts Giant Prayer Service

As people returned to everyday business, grieving for those missing and lost continued.

Thousands gathered Sunday at New York's Yankee Stadium for a multi-faith service for the terror victims.

Instead of cheering baseball fans, the stadium had thousands somberly applauding Placido Domingo's rendition of "Ave Maria," and nodding to the words of TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who hosted the event.

"They came to kill Americans. Each life lost represents one of us," she said. But, she added: "We Americans refuse to be shattered. We shall not be moved." Second base became a stage and podium for the service, dubbed "A Prayer for America," and a spray of red, white and blue carnations covered the pitcher's mound.

The service included prayers from several Roman Catholic clerics, Jewish rabbis, Islamic and Sikh ministers.

Many of the upper deck seats at the stadium were empty, however, as New Yorkers apparently stayed away because of security concerns or because they were unsure how to purchase tickets, city officials said.

Firemen Ask for Help Attending Funerals

Elsewhere around the city, the New York City Fire Department asked members of the public to attend funerals for five of their own over the weekend. Normally thousands of the city's firefighters attend a colleague's funeral, but with 343 firefighters dead or missing in the WTC attack, there have not been enough to be present at all the services.

As work continued at ground zero, many business owners and office workers waited in long lines this weekend to get police escorts into nearby buildings. John Horran, an attorney, said the work he had to leave behind is now desperately needed.

"We're trying to get our business back to normal," he said. "So in order to go to court and make appearances we need our files back."

The general public got within a couple of blocks of ground zero for the first time this weekend, and passersby stopped and looked in amazement at the destruction.

"Total devastation," said one onlooker. "I mean … I've never seen anything like it." "When you see all the pictures on TV and hear it on the radio, you think of seeing Bruce Willis walking out of it," said another. "And then you're here and you know that it's reality, it's people's lives." "We won't be able to find them, and you have to pay your respects somehow," another said.

Still Searching at Ground Zero

Officials have not yet given up hope of finding survivors, however, even though no one has been pulled alive from the rubble since the day after the attack. "On the slim chance that there is anyone still alive, [recovery workers] are conducting the operation so they would be able to save someone if that were the case," Giuliani said. "The mission is going to remain the same for some time. In other words, the firefighters and construction workers and police officers that are there are removing debris carefully in order to find human beings or human remains." Capt. Stewart Willig of a Florida task force working with New York rescuers at ground zero said Saturday it's still possible for people to survive in the levels below ground. "The oxygen level is fine, so people can breathe down there," he said. "The top floors we don't expect to find many survivors, but the lower floors that were pancaked down … we expect to find quite a few bodies and hopefully survivors down there." But some rescue workers said hope is finally fading. "I think everybody's losing a little bit of spark, the hope that they're going to find somebody as time goes on is realistically … going to be a fluke, I feel," one worker said.