Massive cranes move into trade centre site

Crews working in the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Centre have begun assembling giant cranes capable of lifting hundreds of tons of debris at a time.

The delicate search continues for victims of the terrorist attacks. But with the powerful cranes - one 420 feet high and with a base the size of a basketball court - workers will be able to remove more debris and larger chunks blocking access to parts of the wreckage.

’’Every day we come down here, another 50 feet off the pile is gone,’’ said Brian Bowman, 26, a Verizon worker restoring phone services near the site.

The official number of people missing in the rubble dropped to 5,960 yesterday. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the number was lowered after a recheck of victims lists, compiled primarily from missing persons reports and information from foreign consulates.

As debris is cleared from the 16 acre site, human remains continue to be removed for identification.

Forensic scientists say the majority of remains collected will be identified, mostly through DNA comparisons. So far, 305 deaths have been confirmed.

Dr Robert Shaler, chief of forensic biology in the New York City medical examiner’s office, said most victims examined died from ‘‘blunt trauma’’ and others from burns, smoke inhalation and injuries from sharp debris. Some were likely to have been crushed by falling debris, he said.

’’If you stare at the debris and think of all the people buried there it will get to you,’’ said Peter Russo, 55, a carpenter, who was building sheds for crews working at the site.

‘‘I have to look at it as a job, that the cleanup and rebuilding needs to be done.’’

Tons of steel and concrete cover the blocks where the 110 storey World Trade Centre towers stood.

On the tenth floor roof of a nearby building, a ceremony was held to honour the veterans who died in the collapse.

Broken glass littered the rooftop where active Marines in uniform and former or reserve Marines from the Police Department, all in hard hats, flew the flags of the United States and its Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Army and Coast Guard.

As the ceremony ended, the colour guard and some workers below snapped salutes.

On the building, a banner read: ‘‘We Will Never Forget.’’

’’We don’t know how many veterans were killed in this terrorist act,’’ Marine Major David Andersen said.

‘‘We may never know. But we do know there were many among the rescuers and the other victims and this is to honour them all.’’

Away from the site, new rules meant to ease traffic jams that have slowed the city since the attacks were in place for a second day Friday.

Vehicles crossing bridges and tunnels into southern Manhattan between 6 am and noon today were again required to carry at least two people.

On Saturday, the Empire State Building’s observation deck is due to reopen.

Except for a brief trial period, the 86th floor observatory had been closed to the public since the terrorist attacks.

With the collapse of the twin towers, the building again became the city’s tallest skyscraper.