Five firefighters were pulled alive from the smouldering rubble of the World Trade Center today, two days after hijackers crashed planes into its twin towers, leaving thousands feared dead.
The five were found buried in a sports utility vehicle on the ground near the wreckage of the demolished buildings.
Two of the firefighters were able to leave the vehicle unassisted and all five have been taken to hospital.
New York City fire officials confirmed they saw at least one of the firefighters walk out of the debris under his own steam.
"This is the best news we've had in three days", an official told a local television station. "We need something like that, we've got men working on that pile for three days and this will just keep them going".
"It will make our men work harder and harder if they realize people are alive in the basement."
Earlier, official figures showed that over 4,760 people are missing in New York, following the terrorist attacks.More than ninety bodies have been recovered from the ruins and forty-six of them have been identified.
"We also have the gruesome, horrible situation where we recover body parts, and there are 70 people in that category", the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, said. "I am sorry I have to describe it that way," he added.
Earlier, Mr Giuliani acknowledged that in the end, the number of missing might be higher than the number of bodies recovered, because some bodies might have been destroyed in the fires.
US Attorney General John Ashcroft said earlier today that the hunt for those behind the terrorist attacks in America was the biggest in the country's criminal history.
Some 7,000 FBI agents are involved. The FBI is reported to have identified as many as 50 people who helped to carry out the attacks. It is believed that 40 of them, including those on board the four aircraft, have been accounted for.
Half a dozen people have been arrested while a further ten suspects remain at large. Meanwhile, prayer vigils have been held across the United States for the thousands of people thought to have been killed in the terrorist attacks.
Three commercial airliners were hijacked and deliberately crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pittsburgh. The search for survivors is continuing despite diminishing hopes of finding many more people alive.
President George W Bush has visited the Pentagon and said that he was sad, angry and overwhelmed at the sight of the devastation. Leaving the White House for the first time in 24 hours, the President travelled across the Potomac River to meet rescue workers at the scene.
President Bush vowed to avenge the murders of thousands by waging a "monumental struggle of good versus evil". Many observers are already blaming Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Laden for the attacks.
US leaders are putting aside political differences in the wake of the terror attacks. The leaders have vowed to wage war without mercy on those responsible for the attacks.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland has help lines for concerned relatives: 1800 401 800; 1800 385 858; 1 800 715 165; 1 800 715 159.
The American consulate in Belfast has said that the number for those concerned about relatives from both the North and the Republic is 001 202 646 2500.
RTE Interactive has opened a Book of Condolence for victims of the terrorist attacks, which is located on the "US under Siege" special news site. There is also a public notice board for those wishing to contact friends or relatives in the United States.
