Bodies of 10 firefighters found in WTC rubble

The bodies of 10 firefighters and three civilians have been pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Centre.

Excavation crews discovered the bodies as they opened up the lobby of one of the collapsed towers.

The lower floors of the building are now 30 feet below ground.

Tom Da Parma of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said the building's steel beams collapsed in such a way that pockets were created.

None of the 13 bodies have been identified.

Da Parma said the excavation of the disaster site has reached an area of the lobby where many people were trapped when the twin towers collapsed on September 11.

"A lot of firefighters just would not leave that area while people were still trying to get out," he said.

Da Parma estimated that the bodies of 130 of the 343 firefighters missing in the terrorist attack have been identified.

At the disaster site, two large demolition cranes are scheduled to be dismantled this week. Six smaller cranes are expected to remain.

More than half of the 1.2 million tons of debris has been cleared.