Best friend of Irish woman killed in New York feared dead

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.

Paige Hackel, 46, had been a passenger on American Airlines flight AA11 that smashed into the north tower of the centre.

Her best friend Ruth McCourt and her daughter, Juliana, died when their United Airlines flight smashed into the south tower.

Minutes earlier, her brother, Ronnie Clifford, had fled from the damaged World Trade Centre.

Mr Clifford said he knew his sister had been due to fly to Los Angeles that day, but it was only when he telephoned Ms Hackel’s family that the grim truth began to sink in.

He immediately asked a relative to sit at Logan airport until the list of passengers was released.

When it did, it confirmed that Ms McCourt and Juliana had been on the second flight, while Ms Hackel had been a passenger on the first.