Messages of sympathy for firefighters

Heart-rending messages of sympathy were today flooding the New York City Fire Department amid fears that as many as 300 staff - including the chief and deputy chief have died at the World Trade Centre.

‘‘God bless you all, and keep you all’’, ‘‘My prayers are with the brothers’’, read typical messages of condolence on the bulletin board of an unofficial website of the department.

One desperate message asked for information about a member of the crew on engine 26. ‘‘If anyone knows the status of Dana or anyone on 20 Co. please let me know,’’ it said.

Other fire fighters were also posting messages of condolences.

‘‘May none of us ... forget the price our brothers paid for the sake of others,’’ said a message from a firefighter and paramedic from Clay, New York.

‘‘Hug your children and remember that a good run is any run that you return from.’’

Condolences were also flooding in from all over the world.

‘‘We in the Ivory Coast are in tears,’’ read one.