Twin towers site,Rescue effort has become recovery process
US government officials have set the total cost of clearing the former World Trade Centre site and rebuilding the twin towers at $39bn, according to New York newspapers.
Officials have reportedly said that the operation to clear 1.2m tons of steel and debris from the site was costing more than $100m per week and could total $7bn.
While a decision on whether or not to rebuild the twin towers is yet to be taken, the reports say the likely cost of reconstruction would be $8.2bn.
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said yesterday that the operation to clear the rubble from the 16-acre site in downtown Manhattan would take between nine months and one year.
The 110-storey skyscrapers were razed to the ground on September 11, when two hijacked passenger jets ploughed into them. The estimated death toll is now almost 6,300.
