[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Rescuers find jetliner fuselage at Trade Center site as toll of missing rises
Monday, Sept. 24, 2001
 
• Background on Osama bin Laden
• Photos of suspected hijackers

Video:
• Sept. 12: Bush speaks to nation from Cabinet Room
• Sept. 13: Bush warns of 'new kind of war'
• Sept. 14: Bush visits workers at Ground Zero
• Sept. 14: Day of Remembrance at National Cathedral
By DUNSTAN PRIAL
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – Toiling in the rubble of the World Trade Center, firefighter Paul McGuire said he keeps "waiting for that cheer to ring out where they find someone."

Another weekend passed without that hope being answered. Instead, the number of missing increased by more than 100 to 6,453 on Sunday, although city officials stressed the number is subject to change.

Rescue workers did find a major part of one of the planes that hit the towers on Sept. 11. A 10-foot piece of jetliner fuselage was loaded onto a golf cart and taken away by federal crime-scene investigators.

The flight recorders, or black boxes, of the hijacked airliners were still missing. Pictures of them were posted throughout the site so rescuers would recognize them.

Sections of twisted steel beams as long as 50 feet were loaded onto flatbed trucks by hydraulic cranes, and search teams scaled 20-story-high ruins to look by hand.

"It's still a nightmare down there," said Chris Durso, 23, who laid telephone lines Monday. "It's definitely worse in person than on TV."

A short time later, search crews heard reports that Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is barred by term limits from seeking re-election, may try to extend his term.

"He should just stay for another term, period," said Del Mossobir, 26, a volunteer from Queens. "He knows how to handle situations very well. He's done so much and he's cleaned up the city."

On a humid Sunday evening, tourists gathered on streets in lower Manhattan to get a glimpse of the twisted steel. Photos were snapped and souvenirs were bought, like T-shirts and flags.

Nearby, Heather Lord made it her job to lift the spirits of rescue workers. As she has every night since Sept. 12, Lord stood near a route used by vehicles carrying search teams to the scene and trucks carrying debris out.

She held a cardboard sign with "Thank You" written in red, white and blue letters, and waved and yelled greetings at each vehicle. The drivers waved back or honked their horns.

Lord said that the rescue workers' demeanor was one of exhaustion mixed with hope and determination shortly after the twin aerial assaults.

"Now it's just exhaustion," she said. "They're having a rough time of it."

Rescue workers have not found a survivor since the day after the attacks. Giuliani explained the increase in the missing as a result of continued revisions of missing persons lists.

"The number went up a little bit after they went through the lists, removed some of the duplications and then added some names," he said. City officials have pointed out the number may fluctuate by hundreds, as authorities review lists from various sources.

Rustie Miller, 26, was operating a stand Sunday night where rescue workers could pick up dust masks, rain ponchos, gloves, food and water.

"This helps keep their morale up, knowing that we're out here," Miller said.

More weary residents of lower Manhattan were allowed to return home Sunday and relief agencies encouraged them to ask for government help. More than 8,000 people have applied for aid, according to Mike Byrne of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hunter Carter lives in one of the apartment buildings in Battery Park City that is still closed due to a lack of electricity.

He said he used to adore his apartment, the view of Ellis Island, walking along the Hudson River waterfront and spending time in Battery Park.

But now there are police officers and military personnel everywhere, and he wants to break his lease and move to a new place.

"This is nothing like the neighborhood I loved," Carter said. "It is just so sad around here."

___

On the Net:

City site: www.nyc.gov

FEMA: www.fema.gov/diz01/d1391.htm

[an error occurred while processing this directive]