Europe tries to trace its victims

Rescuers continue to search, but there is little news

Almost a week after jets plunged into New York, Washington and western Pennsylvania, Europe is still struggling to identify how many of its citizens have died in the attacks.

The large communites of immigrants and business people in New York City mean that many if not all countries in Europe have been touched by the catastrophe.

Most countries report that the number of citizens believed missing has been dropping as relatives successfully re-establish contact with those they feared were missing in the United States.

The United Kingdom, with its close financial connections to the city, has reported the highest number of casualties of any country so far, with nearly 100 confirmed dead.

Europe's missing

Austria: 40

Belgium: 60

Finland: 17

Germany: 4 dead, 205 missing

Ireland: 4 dead, 20 missing

Spain: 8

Sweden: 1

Switzerland: 4 dead, 2 missing

Turkey: 131

Source: AFP

Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that the number of British victims, which is expected to reach between 200 and 300, constitutes the highest number of British fatalities in any attack since World War II.

Germany, which on Friday was still trying to account for 600 of its citizens, now has only 205 people registered missing.

Four Germans are confirmed to have died on board two of the hijacked jets but so far only one German has been registered injured in Manhattan and none confirmed dead.

Some estimates have put the final number of German fatalities between 30 and 100.

People have flooded a German hotline with a range of worries, some more ominous than others.

In one case caller merely reported that a neighbour had planned a trip to the US during the week of the attacks; in another a woman was able to specify that her husband had had an appointment at the World Trade Center early on Tuesday morning.

Some estimates say 100 Germans have died

A spokesman for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs said embassy staff in the US were checking hotels and hospitals as they tried to track down those registered missing.

Greece is trying to trace both Greeks and US citizens of Greek origin.

"Those missing are more than 30 people and there are maybe over 50 wounded," said government spokesman Dimitris Reppas.

A special government hotline in France has already taken 22,000 calls.

Officials said they are still concerned about around 10 people considered at risk of being among the victims but they have not been able to confirm any French fatalities.

Over the past two days the French consulates in New York and Washington have been trying to make contact with all the French citizens registered as resident or travelling in the United States.

Russia's embassy in Washington has reported 164 people still being sought by relatives. So far no Russian citizens have been confirmed dead.

Other countries still searching for their nationals include Austria, which is reported to have 40 citizens unaccounted for; Belgium, which is trying to trace 60 nationals - four of whom worked in the World Trade Center; and Denmark, which is searching for five tourists.