Five survivors and 82 dead bodies have so far been recovered from the ruins of New York's World Trade Center, city mayor Mr Rudy Giuliani said early this morning.
He told a news conference "thousands of people" were believed to be trapped in the still-smouldering rubble, more than 36 hours after the center's twin towers were hit by the two hijacked commercial airliners.
"I don't think beyond thousands we can be any more precise than that," Mr Giuliani said. Asked to confirm that his office had requested 6,000 body bags, he replied with apparent reluctance: "I believe that is correct, yes".
Giuliani said: "I have to say we don't have anywhere near all the information people are seeking. We so far have recovered 82 bodies. We have participated in rescue efforts for five people. We have that information, but beyond that we are going to have keep searching and looking".
He said workers removed 3,000 tonnes of debris on Wednesday from the shattered landscape of south Manhattan. "If we can do anything like that tomorrow, it will give us a head start in terms of cleaning," he said.
He cautioned that "this is a very dangerous rescue effort" and said firefighters and police officers were risking their lives to save others.
AFP