Recovery Continues in New York, D.C., Hopes Fade
Sept. 16, 2001 -- Rescue efforts continued today, but New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said that hopes of finding any more survivors were fading.
"This was New York City's worst week probably in its history and it's also been its best week because of the citizens of this city," Giuliani said at a press conference late today.
Rescue workers have been searching around the clock for survivors of the twin towers disaster. But the efforts remain painstakingly difficult and tumultuous. One official said that workers can't even find concrete. "It's all dust," he said.
Officials say the towers were "pulverized" by the two hijacked jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center Twin Towers on Tuesday. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon and another crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
"The reality is that we're still told that there are possibilities and that those possibilities can last for some period of time," Giuliani said. "But the hope of recovering people diminishes obviously."
Exploring All Possible Air Pockets
No survivors have been found since early Wednesday. But officials are still calling their efforts a "search and rescue" operation.
Giuliani said late today that a "substantial increase" in the recovery of body parts were being found by workers.
On ABCNEWS' This Week, Giuliani said he would wait "as long as it takes" before declaring that no more survivors are likely to be found, based on input from rescue experts and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
According to Giuliani, 4,957 people are still missing. The number dropped from earlier today after officials eliminated redundancies. The official death toll is at 190, with 115 of those people now identified. Thirty-two firefighters were among those confirmed dead.
"The recovery effort continues and the hope is still there thatwe might be able to save some lives," Giuliani said. "But the reality is that in the last several days we haven't found anyone."
He urged New Yorkers to go about their life and encouraged tourists to visit the city and to spend money.
FBI Combs Area
The FBI has been conducting a block-by-block "grid search" through devastated lower Manhattan, looking for the voice and flight data recorders of the twoaircraft flown into the twin towers.
Investigators discovered the passport of Satam al Suqami, one of the terrorists aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.
Rescue workers have now cleared away 21,000 tons of debris, using 1,200 truckloads. But when they tunnel into the wreckage, it lets in more air and often has the effect of feeding oxygen to the smoldering fires and hot debris.
The cleanup operation has also cleared the surrounding streets of debris in an effort to make the hauling process go faster.
DNA Samples Sought
Families of people missing from Tuesday's attacks have been gathering personal items to help investigators identify victims in New York and Washington. Giulliani has asked families and friends of the missing to hand over personal materials that might help the medical examiner recover DNA samples to identify their bodies.
Many people looking for a missing friend or relative lined up at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan with items like hair combs and tooth brushes that could aid authorities in determining whether their loved ones were trapped in the destruction of the twin towers.
Hoping to find more of the trapped people, FEMA has made arrangements to collect cell phone numbers of missing New Yorkers. Every cell phone company in the nation has agreed to "pulse" those numbers in hopes that either someone will answer, or that they can be located in the rubble.
While the heroic recovery efforts moved ahead, activity of a decidedly non-heroic nature started rearing its head — looting.
New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said one person was arrested for attempted burglary at Brooks Brothers, several have been arrested for trespassing, and one person was arrested for trying to steal a fireman's jacket.
Giuliani has also warned people to be wary of charity scams and people who solicit donations through telemarketing operations. The mayor said no legitimate organizations were doing so.
Grim Task at the Pentagon
In Northern Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, crews continued the grim job of sifting through the debris at the Pentagon. Salvage crews expected to remove more bodies throughout the day from the jetliner that drove a hole through the Pentagon's walls.
The government said that 188 people are unaccounted for since the attack on the Pentagon, while 83 sets of remains have been taken from the site and 77 sets have been sent to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification.
Amid the daunting task, some good news emerged. The section of the building hit by the plane was recently bomb-proofed, and engineers said the renovations may have saved several hundred lives.
Even after the plane hit the building, the newly renovated Pentagon walls did not immediately fall, giving workers 35 minutes to flee before the floors collapsed. Engineers say if terrorists had hit another corner of the building, hundreds more may have been killed.