It has emerged that the best friend of an Irish woman killed in one of the hijacked planes had suffered a similar fate 18 minutes earlier in the first crash.

A stunned and grieving America was at war tonight - with the hunt for those responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington beginning in earnest.

The family of Ruth Clifford-McCourt and her daughter are now planning to travel to the United States to attend her funerals.

The names of the Irish mother and daughter who died, when their plane was hijacked and crashed into one of the World Trade Centre towers have been released.