Giuliani holds on to hope

An aerial shot shows the extent of the devastation

New York's Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani gave new figures for the numbers of dead and missing in the city on Sunday - and refused to abandon hope of finding survivors.

We are going to continue to look for people, at the same time realising that the losses here are staggering

New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

The mayor said 180 people had been confirmed killed in Tuesday's attack on the World Trade Center, 115 of whom had been identified.

A total number recorded as missing now stands at 5,097.

Mr Giuliani dismissed as untrue reports of noises having been heard from beneath the rubble.

"The hope is still there that we might still be able to save some lives, but the reality is that we haven't been able to find anyone.

Mayor Giuliani was quick to visit the wreckage of the Trade Center

"We are going to continue to look for people, at the same time realising that the losses here are staggering," he said.

No-one has been pulled alive from the twisted pile of concrete and metal since Wednesday.

Mr Giuliani urged New Yorkers to show they were not cowed by terrorism.

"Go to church if you go to church on Sunday. If you go to a park and play with your children, do that," he said, adding "Life goes on, and the life of the city goes on, and the prediction that I made on the first day is proving to be true: the city is stronger".

Dozens of countries around the world have reported nationals missing or confirmed dead.

Human toll

5,097 missing at WTC

180 confirmed dead at WTC, 115 victims identified

About 190 missing at Pentagon, including those on airliner

Among those to have suffered heavy losses are Germany, which originally said as many as 700 of its nationals could be missing; Mexico, where community organisations say up to 500 Mexicans are feared dead; the UK, which said its death toll could reach 300; and Bangladesh, which said at least 50 of its citizens were killed.

Passport discovery

Rescue workers sifting through the tons of rubble earlier discovered a passport belonging to one of the suspected hijackers a few blocks from where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood.

New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said investigators would probably be unable to identify the hijackers, because there were unlikely to be enough of their remains left to test.

(Click here to see how the trapped can survive)

Conditions at the scene of the catastrophe have made the salvage operation increasingly difficult as workers contend with mud after heavy rain and a growing stench from the debris.

Many victims may never be identified

There are also reports of scores of rats coming out of the sewers and running freely among the rubble.

While the devastated financial district has been closed to the public since Tuesday's attack, authorities have let some workers back into buildings inside the disaster zone to prepare for business to resume at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.

The US Coast Guard gave the all-clear on Sunday after testing the air quality, allowing teams of workers back into offices for a maximum of three hours to retrieve important information from computers.

Correspondents say a layer of brown sticky sludge covers everything; cars lie abandoned, shops, bars and restaurants wide open but empty.

Vigils

Hundreds of residents have been lining up, waiting to be escorted into blocked off areas so they can briefly go home to collect essential belongings before being led out again.

"All they said is I have five minutes to get what I need," said teacher Beth Rubenstein.

The Pentagon will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild

Several thousand people continued a vigil at Union Park near the scene of the disaster and thousands more are expected to attend a service of remembrance in Central Park at 1500 (1900 GMT).

In Washington, workers are continuing to excavate tons of rubble at the Pentagon, where about 190 people are thought to have died, including those aboard the hijacked plane that slammed into the building on Tuesday.

Military sources said it would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars" to repair the damage.

---

(click here to return)