New York - Firefighters and policemen, praised as heroes after the World Trade Centre attack, clashed yesterday near ground zero when firemen overturned barricades and punched police officers to protest at cuts in the number of workers assigned to search the rubble for bodies.
Five policemen were assaulted and 12 firefighters arrested when firefighters broke through police barricades near the site in protests over recovery personnel cuts the mayor said were needed for safety reasons but firefighters said were a matter of money.
Shouting "Bring them home" in a reference to their fallen comrades, about 1,000 city firefighters headed to the site of the collapsed towers where they held a brief prayer and then walked through Lower Manhattan to City Hall.
"There is no question that emotions are very, very high for all of us," New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told a press conference. "But the reality is the kind of conduct displayed today is unacceptable. You cannot hit police officers. You can't disobey the law."
The number of firefighters and police involved in recovering remains from the attack site reached into the hundreds.
Under a new plan announced this week, that number would be reduced to about 100 uniformed personnel, working 24 hours a day.
"This is a war and we want to get our fallen brothers off the battlefield," said a Bronx firefighter who asked not to be named.
Several firefighters said the disaster site was safer now than on September 11th and the reason for the personnel cuts was to save the city money.