Akamai founder killed in hijack

Two airliners slammed into the twin towers

One of the founders of Akamai Technologies, a provider of content delivery services, has been killed in the attacks on the US.

Daniel C Lewin was on board the American Airlines flight that crashed into one of the towers of New York's World Trade Center.

Mr Lewin, 31, was on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

'Deeply missed'

"Danny was a wonderful human being," said George H Conrades, chairman and chief executive of Akamai in a statement. "He will be deeply missed by his many friends at Akamai.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Danny's family, friends and colleagues during this time of national tragedy and personal loss."

Akamai works on speeding up net traffic and is one of the most prominent technology start-ups in Boston's hi-tech region. Mr Lewin founded Akamai in September 1998 with Tom Leighton and a group of MIT scientists and business professionals.

He was its chief technology officer, overseeing the company's research and development strategy. Mr Lewin was born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Jerusalem.

Before setting up Akamai, he worked at IBM's research lab in Haifa, Israel, where he was a research fellow and project leader.