Mayor puts New York missing at more than 5,000

New York's mayor says the number missing following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre is more than 5,000.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said 180 people had been confirmed dead, 115 of whom have been identified.

The total number of missing has been raised to 5,097.

Mr Giuliani says work at the site of the World Trade Centre will continue to be called a rescue operation until all hope has faded.

But the men and women combing the wreckage of the twin towers are growing more frustrated.

Firefighter Ed Kester says searchers have found personal items among the rubble.

"If we find stuff, we bring dogs in to sniff around. It was a let down. The dogs didn't pick up on anyone," Mr Kester said

Mayor Giuliani is pushing ahead plans to reopen much of Manhattan on Monday with a new service, a ferry carrying passengers between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

"This could be the most jarring event in American history ... so there's every reason to understand why people are going to be very traumatised or very upset by it but the best way to deal with it is to try to get back to normal," he said.