Guyana's Consul General in New York, Brentnol Evans says that at least two Guyanese are feared dead in Tuesday's terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and it is expected that this number will rise as more official information is released..

Yesterday, a West Demerara family was clinging to the hope that one of theirs, missing since Tuesday, is still alive. There were also reports yesterday that former national middle order batsman Nizam Hafiz was among those missing. He worked on the 94th floor of tower one and has not been heard from since the attack. His relatives are said to be frantically scouring hospitals in the city for him.

Evans told Stabroek News that at least one woman who lived in the Bronx and a man who lived in New Jersey might have perished. He said that the names of these individuals were not available as yet.

Evans said that he was concerned about the well-being of the Guyanese nationals who worked in the two buildings and the surrounding areas. He told Stabroek News from New York yesterday that he had no idea of the numbers who worked there, but was in contact with Guyanese organisations to seek assistance in getting names and other information.

Today, Evans said, he would go to St Vincent's Hospital where names would be posted up, probably of those who were taken there for treatment. He said that the list would not indicate nationalities, but he would have to use that information as a basis from where to start.

He said that another step in trying to get information would be to liaise with the New York City Commission at the United Nations. These are some of the arrangements that Foreign Minister, Rudy Insanally told Stabroek News yesterday the consulate had put in place to help to provide as much information as possible about the well-being of Guyanese who worked in the World Trade Center or in the general area of the two destroyed towers.

Guyana's Ambassador to the United States, Dr Odeen Ishmael, who was in New York up to yesterday, confirmed that efforts were being made to put the arrangements in place even though the office was operating with a skeleton staff. Dr Ishmael said that all of the staff at the mission and consulate were alright, but they had difficulty getting into Manhattan yesterday as all the bridges and tunnels from the other boroughs were blocked.

Dr Ishmael told Stabroek News that at the time of Tuesday's attack he was in a meeting of the Rio Group when his cellular phone, which was usually off when he was at a meeting, but for some reason was not, rang. Thinking that he would answer it and ask the person to call him later, Dr Ishmael said, he heard his sister-in-law who lives in Manhattan, screaming at him to get out of the building as it was being attacked by terrorists. She mistakenly believed it was the UN headquarters that was being attacked. He said he told his colleagues what was happening and when the television was turned on at his request, the sight that greeted them was the second aircraft slamming into the south tower at the World Trade Center.

Dr Ishmael said that yesterday the streets of New York were sombre as there was no traffic and you could walk across those broad streets without looking left or right. But he said that there were roadblocks everywhere.

Clinging to hope

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old Guyanese who worked in the World Trade Center has not contacted her family since the incident.

Anett Dataram called 'Priya' formerly of 265 Patentia Housing Scheme, and of 1230911 Avenue South Ozone Park, New York, worked as an accountant. She has been working in the building three years now since finishing her schooling.

Her father, Madan Gopaul Rajkumar called 'Penny' said that his wife, Chandra, called him yesterday morning from New York informing him that his daughter had not been seen since the aerial attack on Tuesday morning.

The worried man, who was surrounded by a number of relatives and friends, told Stabroek News at this West Demerara home that since he heard of the attack he had feared for the life of his daughter.

He said that his wife told him that the young woman's brothers, Anand, 23, and Robert 21, along with her cousins had been frantically searching for her since the incident. He said that they had checked all the hospitals but had found no trace of her.

Dataram left for the United States some eight years ago and never returned. Her father said he was expected to travel to the states next month courtesy of his daughter.

He is now more than anxious to travel but would have to wait until flights to airports in the US resume.

The family members are keeping their fingers crossed.

Real-life horror

Bernadette Springer, a Guyanese who worked nearby had a close-up view of Tuesday's horrifying events. The images of people jumping and falling to their deaths would stay with her for a long time.

"It was the most horrifying experience of my life. One that I will never forget", she told Stabroek News yesterday.

"I was on my way to work on the subway, two stops away from my stop, when a gentleman came on the train and announced that there had been an explosion at the World Trade Center and that passengers exiting at Chambers Street (my stop) should take note.

"It wasn't until I exited at my stop that I heard that a plane had accidentally collided into the World Trade Center. When I exited the Subway Station the sight ahead of me was ghastly. There was a huge gaping hole in tower two of the World Trade Center. There was smoke everywhere, people were hanging outside the building. Then the most heart-wrenching, terrifying thing started to happen, they started to jump from the building, all plunging helplessly to their deaths. At that point I became hysterical, running to my office building as fast as I could. There were pedestrians fainting in the streets as they saw people splattering into bits on the sidewalk as they made impact. These images of people floating in the air like rag dolls will stay in my mind forever. I had nightmares last night.

"I finally got to my building and was met by one of my co-workers who was hysterical, her aunt worked at the World Trade Center (she eventually heard that her aunt was able to exit the building safely). We began to make our way up the stairs, and that's when we heard the second plane crash into tower one. I turned around and saw, what I now believe to be the tail end of the plane as it crashed into tower one. There was a huge explosion, and chaos erupted from the streets below. That's when I realised that we were under a terrorist attack. I was in a daze, rooted to the spot. I began to move again when I saw more people jumping from the building, it was too much for me to stomach. I got into my office and frantically called Daddy to let him know what was happening. Shortly after that we were evacuated from our building.

"We exited from the rear end of our building and were told: 'get the hell out of lower Manhattan, we are under a terrorist attack.' Needless to say that other buildings in the area were evacuating and therefore efforts to flee lower Manhattan were very slow paced. We (my co-workers and I) had walked for a while, when the ground starting shaking, everyone started to run. All the while that I was running, I wasn't fearful for my life, I was running just because everyone else was running. When we finally stopped and looked back tower one was no longer standing, there was just an empty space in our Manhattan skyline.

"For the first time I began to feel emotion, I was no longer just reacting to the chaos around me. I became extremely angered. Half hour or so later tower two crumbled, mission was completed. New Yorkers felt violated. Pedestrians were screaming in the streets. The anguish at the careless disregard for human life was overwhelming, far too much to bear.

"I walked all the way from lower Manhattan to 45th Street (midtown Manhattan) it must have been about 85-90 blocks. There was no way of leaving the city.

"At around 2 pm, we heard that pedestrians were allowed to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, and we made our way back down to lower Manhattan to tiredly cross the bridge into Brooklyn.

Running for their lives

Another eyewitness to Tuesday's horrific events was St Joseph High School old girl, Valerie Wheeler. She wrote to Stabroek News yesterday describing the events that unfolded before as she exited the Church Street Station, a five-minute walk from the World Trade Center complex.

She said that as she and countless others walked across the Brooklyn Bridge the images she saw as she looked back at the unbelievable sight of the burning buildings would remain burned in her mind forever.

In her letter, she said that "the most horrifying thing was witnessed - a body plummeted from the upper floors of the burning building, maybe 80 storeys up.

"I could not believe it, I just continued to be mesmerised. Then a few minutes later, another body went flying down, at which point I could take it anymore and I turned to leave. I had in mind to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to downtown Brooklyn; no sooner than I started to do so, we all heard the second noise of the second plane approaching at which point people, including myself, just started running for their lives."

Movie-like scene

Andrew Green, who viewed the scene from a relatively safe mid?town Manhattan office, witnessed the attack on the southern tower of the World Trade Center. In these words he described the scenes he saw in another letter to be published in the Stabroek News.

"Suddenly, I noticed the second tower shimmering, glittering in thousands of points tiny reflections of the bright sun light. 'What's that?' I yelled into the cell phone to my wife. But before she could answer I saw a huge fiery plume envelope the top section of the second tower. I remember whispering, 'Oh my God.' My cell phone went dead.

"The shimmering was caused by the impact of another aircraft ploughing into the second building. I stood there horror-stricken, unable to believe what I had just witnessed. I had seen such scenes in movies. I never thought I could see such a tragedy in real life, I never ever want to see such a scene again as long as I live."

At that time he said that some in the office logged on to the Associated Press Radio on the Internet and heard reports of the other attack on the Pentagon Building and "the possibility that we are experiencing the execution of a vile terrorist plan to murder innocent people."

"Then there was a stifled gasp; one of the towers started to crumble. The scene made more eerie and disbelieving because we could not hear a sound except for the wailing sirens of emergency vehicles rushing downtown. As the screaming sirens faded in the distance I began to hear the muffled sound of those crying around me.

"The news said that Manhattan was stranded; no trains in or not of the city, no ferries, no bridges, the island was temporarily strangled."

Green said that he and his wife reached their Brooklyn home about five hours after they started out from Manhattan and sat in front their TV throughout the night but the pictures seemed only to confirm that they were enduring a living nightmare.