America at War: The aftermath: IN THE BLACK HOLE; 400 body parts a

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Sep 23, 2001 | by GERARD COUZENS

IT'S a black hole which measures just a third of a square mile, and day and night rescue workers swarm over it like ants.

The obliterated site of the World Trade Center is the focus of the world's most intensive rescue operation.

It's still referred to as a rescue operation, despite the fact that no survivors have been found since September 12 - the day after the attack.

Hopes of finding anyone alive now in the midst of the rubble, dust and twisted metal are almost non-existent.

As well as the landmark twin towers, 16 other buildings have collapsed or suffered major damage.

As the rescuers penetrated the deepest underground floors of the site - the seven levels of shops and car parks underneath the World Trade Center - they found fires still raging. With temperatures soaring to 2,000 degrees, anyone trapped nearby will have been asphyxiated or incinerated.

The number of confirmed dead at the World Trade Center complex is now 155.

But the number of people missing in the rubble, now presumed dead, is 6,333. Many of their bodies will never be found.

Victims are believed to come from 62 countries.

The New York Police Department is missing 23 people, while the New York Fire Department's missing total is 330 - with 34 confirmed dead.