US under terrorist attack: explosions at World Trade Centre, Pentagon on fire, hundreds feared dead

The United States of America came under multiple terrorist attack early this morning.

* Two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York

* Within an hour a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington.

* A car bomb was reported to have exploded outside the State Department in Washington.

* A fourth hijacked plane was reported to be heading towards Washington.

Both towers of the World Trade Centre collapsed, as did one wall of the Pentagon.

It is believed the planes that crashed into the World Trade Centre had been hijacked.

The attack came as office workers began work at the World Trade Centre. There were huge explosions after the planes crashed, and within an hour both towers collapsed.

The death toll was unknown but expected to be in the thousands.

Shortly after the first attack, a person who answered the phone on the trading floor at interdealer-broker Cantor Fitzgerald, near the top of the World Trade Centre, said "We're fucking dying," when asked what was happening, and hung up. Screaming and yelling could be heard in the background, and a followup call was not answered.

Witness Nic Fulton said that just before the first explosion, he saw a plane fly low over his apartment in lower Manhattan.

"We've never seen a plane this low before," he said.

It was a large, white plane with two jet engines, but he was not able to identify it further.

"There's so much smoke coming out of the thing," he said.

"The second plane curved in from the West and appeared to aim straight at the second tower and hit it just below the level of the first impact," said Mark Wood, another eyewitness.

"It looked like a mid-sized executive jet and the way it turned suggested it was being aimed deliberately at a target," he said.

Darren Cohen, an electrician from Long Island, said: "I heard the boom and saw flames. People were jumping out of the window."

Debris from the building injured three people lying on stretchers nearby, he said.

Within moments of the attacks America went into damage control.

* The White House was evacuated and President George W. Bush took to the air in Air Force One, cutting short a visit to Florida.

* The Pentagon and all federal Government offices in Washington were evacuated.

* Public buildings in New York, such as the court buildings, were shut down.

* All aircraft in the US were ordered to be grounded.

Reports in New York last night said both aircraft that attacked the World Trade Centre were American Airlines flights.

One, from Boston, had 90 passengers and crew, and the other from Dulles airport in Washington with 60 passengers and crew.

All plane departures were stopped in the United States under a "national groundstop" from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We have a national groundstop order, which means no aircraft are taking off right now," said FAA spokesman Laura Brown.

Before he took to the air, President Bush condemned the attack on the World Trade Center and pledged the US government would "hunt down" those responsible.

"Terrorism against our nation will not stand," Mr Bush.

He called it a "difficult moment for America".

"Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Centre in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," he said, speaking before schoolchildren, teachers and parents at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, where he had planned to talk about education.

"I have spoken to the vice-president, to the governor of New York, to the director of the FBI, and have ordered that the full resources of the Federal Government go to help the victims and the families and to conduct a full scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act."

He called for a moment of silence. "May God bless the victims, their families and America," he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

Reports in the Gulf said a Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Abu Dhabi television reported it had received a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine abroad claiming responsibility for crashing two planes into the WTC buildings.

But a senior official from the radical DFLP denied the group had any connection to the attacks.

'I emphasise that the story released on Abu Dhabi TV by an anonymous person is totally incorrect," said Tayseer Khaled, a senior official from the DFLP politburo in the Palestinian territories.

"The DFLP is against hijacking planes and against endangering the lives of civilians who are not connected with the struggle of this region," he said.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat condemned the attacks.

"I send my condolences, the condolences of the Palestinian people to American President Bush and his Government and to the American people for this terrible act," Arafat said in Gaza.

"We completely condemn this serious operation ... We were completely shocked. It's unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable."

The tops of both towers of the lower Manhattan landmark, where thousands of people work and which was the scene of a bombing in 1993, were burning after the crashes.

Both later collapsed.

* In England, the British parliament was evacuated and the underground rail system was shut in precautions against terror attacks.

- AGENCIES

The New Zealand Herald will publish a special print edition with coverage of the terrorist attacks. It will be available in Auckland from noon today.

The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims

These numbers are valid for calls from within New Zealand, but may be overloaded at the moment.

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade special hotline: 0800 872 111

Online database for friends and family