Tearful scenes as workers return to terrorist hit district

Many workers returning to the district burst into tears as they left the subway station and were confronted by the pall of dust which hangs in the air, the streets boarded over while they wait to be repaired and the sight of National Guard troops patrolling the streets proving too much for some to bear.

One trader, who refused to give his name, said he was finding it difficult to return to work when he had still not heard from two friends who were in the World Trade Centre at the time of the attack.

Fighting back tears, he said: ‘‘I want to believe the best but I’m scared they’re gone and it feels too weird coming back when I know they could still be in there.

‘‘But there was no question of not coming back, I know it’s for the best that we get things up and running again.’’

Unlike much of the city, the streets were not emblazoned with the faces of the missing, as relatives had been unable to reach the area to put up posters and appeals.

But many firms were hanging American flags and messages of support in the windows as they prepared for the opening ceremony inside the Exchange.

Trader Thomas Cook, of Rock Island Security, made his walk to work with an American flag draped around his shoulders.

He said: ‘‘It’s never too soon to come back. America is all about being free.’’

Meanwhile, the clean up operation on the streets continues with diggers moving in to continue shifting rubble and the only vehicles in sight were those of the emergency services and the camouflage trucks of the National Guard.

Trader Peter Grossman, of the Monaco Brokerage Corporation, said he had been working in the Exchange since 1987 but was stunned by the scenes which confronted him today.

‘‘It’s going to be tough, a lot of major firms got seriously hurt by what happened, but we have been in tough jams before and we will get it back again,’’ he said.

‘‘I have been amazed by the response to what has happened. I work in contact with a lot of British firms and I thought it was really moving when they played the Star Spangled Banner at Buckingham Palace.

‘‘It was a really moving symbol and it meant a lot to me.’’