Document text
Chaos Reigns as Terror Strikes Manhattan Newsday NEW YORK � Pandemonium raged on the streets of lower Manhattan moments after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center Tuesday, forcing people below to scatter for cover into local restaurants, hide under cars and duck into storefronts. As dazed workers caked in dust, their clothing torn, were led to safety, several eyewitnesses reported seeing people jumping and bodies falling from the upper floors of both burning towers, a horrific scene of smoke and flames shooting from gaping holes. "I saw a lot of bodies falling out near the hole in the tower," said a shaken Frank Hill of Manhattan. "Then you could hear something bang ... then the second building fell like a deck of cards." City worker Tom Walsh said he saw people jumping from the upper floors to avoid the flames. "They jumped in tandem," Walsh said. "I could see them jumping together. I saw a man and a woman. It was like they drifted down so slowly. You could see the flames around them." Within minutes lower Manhattan was paralyzed at the peak of the morning rush hour with evacuations under way. Subway lines closed, cellular phone service was crippled and roads were gridlocked, leaving hundreds of vehicles along with commuters stranded as they tried to make their way into work in the Wall Street area just after the first attack occurred. Trading on Wall Street was immediately suspended and much of the downtown district, including the nearby Financial Center and City Hall, was shut down. Thousands of people crowded onto the Brooklyn Bridge for a closer look of the burning towers. At Foley Square, Alberto Eddie Garcia of the Bronx, was trying to wash away the building dust from his eyes in a fountain with about seven other men. "I was riding in on the train," Garcia said. "I could see the commotion and people running away; I am thinking it�s a shootout or something like that." Sgt. Peter Brower was in lower Manhattan at the corner of West and Vessey streets. When the first building collapsed he was next to the north tower. "I crawled under a truck until the thundering stopped and then I walked out. ... I thought that was it. I thought it was my time. People were jumping. Body parts were all over the ground." Mark Flavin, 48, a lawyer, was heading to work on the subway when his train was halted outside of the Fulton Street stop in lower Manhattan. The train then lost power and everyone was let out. As he climbed the stairs to exit, an explosion floored him. "It was like being engulfed in a tidal wave," Flavin said. He and several of the passengers tried to get out, but they had to crawl on hands and knees through the smoke and white ash. When he finally got out, he said the destruction was unbelievable. "It�s devastating." Gene Russianoff of New York Public Interest Research Group was in his downtown offices along with about 25 phone bank workers taking calls on election complaints. After the second plane hit, they were stuck in the office on Murray Street between Church and Broadway, about three blocks away, afraid to leave because of falling debris. "There�s dense thick smoke. You can�t see. It was like you were downwind from Mount St. Helens," Russianoff said. "Some emergency workers came in really shook up, got some rags, and went back out again. ... We�ve stayed here because of falling debris, because of the collapse of the building, and the smoke. We all feel it�s best. "Like all the rest of New York, everyone is on the phone, trying to locate their families," he said. Hundreds stood in the area of City Hall Park watching both buildings burn, when the first building collapsed sending a dust ball of blinding white ash through the streets. The crowd scattered in horror. "It just caved in like a cake when it�s not cooked all the way," said Cynthia Arno, 41. "It just went down. It happened so fast. ... I think it�s the craziest thing. My God, that�s all I can say." Elsewhere, concerned parents flocked to the schools to pick up their children in the wake of today�s apparent terrorist attacks. Many parents said they were unsure of how to explain today�s events to their children. "This is the moment where you want to be near your loved ones," said Lillian Monterroso, of Queens. "All the innocent people who lost their lives." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.