9/11 families watch hijack film with Bush

US President George Bush comforted distraught relatives of September 11 victims after watching the film about the hijacked United Flight 93 with them.

Families of some of the 40 passengers and crew who died when the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania were invited to the White House to see United 93 with Mr Bush and his wife Laura.

Quiet crying could be heard in the cinema as the credits rolled on what White House press secretary Tony Snow described as a “very emotional night“.

Mr Snow said the president spoke briefly to the families who attended the screening before the film began, and consoled a number of them afterwards.

“It has a very powerful ending,” he said.

“It’s dead silence as the credits roll, and you had sounds of quiet sobbing in the room.”

United 93, by British director Paul Greengrass, focuses on the drama on the flight after passengers fought back against their hijackers.