"ALLO, I'm trapped. See you babes."

This was the poignant message left Allison Adams two Tuesdays ago on the answering machine at home by her husband, 63-year-old former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Staff Sargeant, Patrick Adams.

Adams, who worked, as a Security Guard with Japanese Bank located on either the 81st or 82nd Floor of the World Trade Center (WTC), is one of 19 Guyanese nationals reported missing thus far since the tragic events of September 11 in the United States.

Relatives here said yesterday, that the last time Allison, who is also Guyanese, saw her husband was around 05:00hrs when he left for work that fateful morning.

Meanwhile, family members of former under-19 middle-order batsman, Nezam Hanif, another casualty of the September 11 terrorist attack on the US, are still optimistic that he still alive and well, even though it's almost a week now since they last saw or heard from him.

A cousin, Mr Hasseeb Sheriff, told the `Chronicle' last evening that relatives and close friends, particularly his cricketing buddies, have been gathering every evening since at Hanif's Ozone Park, New York, residence to keep his parents company and to generally cheer them up.

"And we'll continue doing so until some closure is brought to this whole affair. That's all we can do right now," he said.

Sheriff confirmed that Hanif, now 32, has been working for the past two years as a systems analyst with ReSolutions, a subsidiary of the acclaimed Marsh & McLennon Group of Companies, which was housed on the 94th Floor of ‘Tower One' of the World Trade Center.

The youngest of three children, Hanif is said to have been living in the US since 1992. He has neither wife nor family of his own. Both his parents live with him, Sheriff said. Both are also said to be taking the news badly, particularly his mother, with whom he was very close.

Another parent who has also not given up hope is Mahadai Dataram, whose eldest child, Anette, was reportedly last seen on the day of the incident.

"You got to hope, even though what you see on TV is telling you differently," the mother of three told the `Chronicle' last evening. She confirmed that her daughter, who turned 25 on January 20, worked as an accountant with restaurateurs, ‘Windows on the World' on the top-most (107th) Floor of the World Trade Center.

Former GDF Major, Roger Denny, who was in one of the towers, was hospitalised for five hours for smoke inhalation. This information was conveyed to Guyana by Denny's former colleagues. Denny worked on the 44th floor, Building Seven of one of the towers.

Among the lucky ones to have escaped unscathed are Guyanese Paulette Jones, Elizabeth Cox, Lorrez Gill and Russell ‘Linden' Braithwaithe, who reportedly worked on the 31st and 32nd Floors at Solomon Smith and Barney. (LINDA RUTHERFORD)

Guyanese Beverly Gomes tells of the day she ran for her life

By Allison Butters in Brooklyn, New York

ONE WEEK after two commercial jet liners slammed into the World Trade Center's twin towers landmark in New York, and another at the Pentagon in Washington, the fiery scenes of death and destruction continue to be replayed innumerable times on television.

But for Guyanese-born Beverly Gomes, and many more like her who escaped death or injury that day, the sight and memory of the actual attack are forever etched on their brain.

Gomes, an employee in the Legal Department of Soloman, Smith and Barney, an investment company, which used to be housed on the 31st and 32nd Floor in Tower Seven of the WTC, still relives the events of Tuesday, including a harrowing trek for hours and miles on foot out of Manhattan and from death's door.

"I am in a mess… My stomach is still nervous. I am getting diarrhoea and every now and then the tears just come. I can't get to sleep," she said.

This is how she described her life since arriving home frightened and exhausted about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

It was only then that she learnt that Tower Seven collapsed hours after the twin towers. The good thing was that it had been evacuated so no lives were lost in the collapse.

"My Supervisor told me that all our people are accounted for. I would say that a lot of Caribbean people work with Soloman Smith and Barney. Almost
everywhere you turned it was your countryman."

Gomes named other Guyanese Linden Braithwaite, Elizabeth Cox and Paulette Jones as co-workers. She said that three days after the tragedy, employees have been advised to remain at home until they are told where to report and when.

DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO WORK
"All I know is that I didn't feel like going to work on Tuesday. But I had to go. I left my home in New Jersey at 7:30 (a.m.) and I should have been at work by 8:30. I was angry and frustrated when the subway was late," Gomes recalled.

She described unscheduled stops and transfers and evacuations from the C train to the A train before finally arriving at the WTC.

"Up to then, I knew something was wrong but I really had no idea what…all I was concentrating on was getting to work and the fact that I was late," Gomes

said. She would reach the entrance of Tower Seven, only to be stopped by Police Officers who directed her gaze to the unfolding horror atop the WTC where American Airlines 11 had minutes before crashed into Tower One and left in its wake a ball of fire.

"I saw when the second plane hit…and it was chaos. I was just crying…seeing people flying out of windows or jumping. The cops told us to run and I ran. There were hundreds of people running," Gomes said.

She added that it was herself, two Trinidadians and one Panamanian co-worker who ran together at first but later separated as Gomes headed towards the Police Plaza and they toward the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Police Plaza was closed and so was Folley's Square station, which Gomes attempted to used as means of escape. What followed was more running along Manhattan Streets, until she was pushed onto a bus fleeing the city.

"I didn't know where we were going but eventually some of us got off in Harlem and started walking towards the George Washington Bridge. We had to go up a ramp and our legs were giving out," Gomes said.

Snipers and police armed to the teeth directed persons onto buses.

Hours later, in New Jersey, Gomes and a few others managed to rent a car at one of the few car rentals that were open for business. She reached home at about 7:30 p.m.

"I thank God that I am alive. I will continue to be God-fearing and not let myself be changed or become bitter after this experience," she declared.

Remembering those who got buried under the rubble of the twin towers, Gomes said she believed that persons who were on the 102nd floor and above of the 110-floor tower, never had a chance.

TEDIOUS PROCESS IN CLASSIFYING MISSING GUYANESE -

Meanwhile, Guyana Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS) Odeen Ishmael last week said that Consul General Brentnol Evans continued to contact various Guyanese community groups in New York.

He said Evans was also due to check at the NY City Council in Manhattan where a list of missing persons was to be posted.

According to Ishmael, the Consulate is contacting about 30 Groups formed by Guyanese in the US.

The Ambassador pointed out that the difficulty was that there would be no indication as to nationality alongside names, and as a result the Consulate has to rely heavily on Guyanese who actually report to the Consulate that their relatives who worked in the WTC are still missing.

He said the Consulate had received reports of about three or four Guyanese families who have been holding wakes for relatives.

The Consulate is also using as a reference, a list of Guyanese in the US, who have processed transactions including passport renewals at the Consulate in recent times.