The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 13

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2001 The Boston Globe The Nation A13 FACING TERROR NEW YORK'S RECOVIRY IIMIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMM Amid debris, ed searc. mm ft- 7 continues 1 v. SEARCH Continued from Page Al shovels and picks. There are handlers with sniffer dogs, and elite searchers who descend into crevasses looking for life. Other workers stand shoulder to shoulder in a bucket brigade, passing debris down the line.

Still others, on their knees like inquisitive archeolo-gists, examine the contents of each and every bucketful for signs of human remains. Rescue worker Ed Fahey, 33, was among the first into tower one, just before it went down. He was trapped, struggled free, and immediately began working again. But the collapse killed many of his colleagues and potentially thousands of others. During the hours, a steady stream of bodies and body parts has been uncovered by Fahey and his colleagues.

"We're finding plenty of people. You just try to pull them out If too much devastation to even describe," he said. "You realize how many people were lost" So far the workers have made some, albeit small, progress. In a news conference yesterday morning, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said rescue workers have removed more than 10,000 tons of debris in some 1,000 truckloads, a massive amount in such a short time, but a minuscule amount in the mountain of devastation. Echoing the optimism of many of those like Zurita, Giuliani said: "There is still a strong hope that well be able to recover people." Yesterday's weather didn't help.

Rain and strong winds made the wreckage dangerous, buffeting the site and flooding sidewalks and streets. City officals said the massive concrete slabs were becoming heavier as they absorbed rainfall. There was also an upside to the rain: The ash and dust was kept down and the area was given a cleaning. Still, the thick layer of ash that coats the ground and most of the workers can be a grisly reminder of death for the exhausted rescue workers. "Sometimes I wonder if these ashes are people," said firefighter Robert Galinsky.

"But I try not to think of it" The intensity of the search has prompted the army of workers to adhere to its own code of behavior. One example: A raised hand prompts an immediate cessation of work shovels are stilled, tractors stop, and generators are IV' 'Hie; IV 9 1 'A ueeu upeiaimg a iruiu-enu luauer to get nd of mainly twisted steel beams. The 36-year-old city trac- rnorotrtr )iAurairap Viae Vi tor operator, however, has had trouble noticing anything but the 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 In brief MASSACHUSETTS Company makes gift of skin grafts CANTON Organogenesis Inc. and its Swiss marketing partner Novartis AG are donating supplies of the bioengineered skin substitute Apligraf to emergency medical centers to help victims of the terrorist attacks. Each Apligraf skin graft is about 3 inches in diameter and costs about $1,000.

The company said it would send more if there are requests. (Bloomberg) News anchor cited in on-air incident BOSTON Jeff Barnd, an anchor for WLVI-TV (Channel 56), will be disciplined for an on-air incident Thursday night in which he appeared to jump from his chair and dance after introducing a segment on the terrorist attacks during the 10 p.m. news, station management said. News director Greg Ca-puto declined to describe the sanctions, but said the anchorman planned to apologize to viewers during last nighf broadcast "He thought we were going to miss a live feed from New York," Caputo said. (Globe staff) NEW YORK Framingham firm donates supplies NEW YORK Staples, the office-supply retailer based in Framing-ham, has transformed one of its stores, a block away from the World Trade Center, into a rest area for fire and rescue workers.

The firm is also donating office supplies and equipment to federal investigators and emergency response teams, offering free color photocopying to family members searching for loved ones, and setting up a database to help locate missing people. (Globe staff) Fraud, looting, hoaxes reported NEW YORK- City officials were being confronted with increasing reports of bomb hoaxes, looting, Internet fraud schemes, and phony tales of trapped survivors. The vultures are always going to come out," said Lisa V. Daglian, press secretary for Manhattan Borough president C. Virginia Fields.

"But this is the kind of predatory story we hadnt expected. (Globe staff) WASHINGTON, D.C. Meehan receives threatening calls Representative Martin Meehan, Democrat of Lowell, received threatening phone calls at his Lowell office yesterday, as readers responded to a Boston Herald report in which Meehan questioned why President Bush did not return directly to Washington after Tuesday's terrorist attacks. Meehan said his comments were taken out of context (Globe staff) PENNSYLVANIA US to give medals to hero passengers SHANKSVTLLE The passengers of a hijacked airliner that crashed near Pittsburgh could be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, because they apparently thwarted an attack on a US landmark, Pennsylvania's two US senators said yesterday. "All the indicators are that they rushed the pilot and brought the plane down," said Senator Arlen Specter after he and Senator Rick San-torum toured the wooded area where United Airlines Flight 93 went down.

(Reuters) I A Chinese TV is slow to report crashes BELTING Chinese television viewers sat transfixed by the terrorist attacks in the United States. But China Central Television ran only a brief mention of the first attack after it occurred and had a slightly expanded report an hour later. It wasnt until three hours after the attacks that it ran a full report with prerecorded footage. (AP) Firefighters and rescue workers sorting through the rubble to find survivors where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood. known as "ground zero" yesterday ing firefighters and volunteers to firefighter helmets, and human said they would continue hunting take a rest or swallow some medi- limbs scattered about for survivors until they were or- cine.

"If there's anyone who will There no word the dicuo-dered to stop. Many are working find survivors, it these guys. 20-hour days, and they often re- Ever since he was called to the nIortms, ne saia i neyre go-fuse to take breaks or get medical scene on Tuesday, Bob Price has gtohave to meoneup.andan .1.1 i -L ji I can say is I hope they make it turned off so that rescuers can better listen for signs of life. George Mullowney said he still gets his hopes up when this happens. A firefighter from Ladder 68 in the Bronx, he lost a number of his friends when the towers came crumbling down.

And yet, no survivors have been found in more than 48 hours. The things we're finding make you not want to keep going," Mullowney said. "But we keep going, and we wont stop." Also sapping morale is a number of false reports of survivors over the past few days. On Thursday, television stations and news agencies fueled hopes that five firefighters had been found in an SUV buried in the rubble. But the true story was that two firefighters involved in the rescue effort had been temporarily trapped in an underground air pocket and freed by other rescue workers.

Similarly false were reports broadcast on local television stations about the wife of a cop who said her husband called from a cellphone and told her he and nine other officers were still alive. Police later arrested the woman, whose story was a lie and diverted rescue workers for several hours late Thursday night "These false reports are extremely dangerous," said Bernard Kerik, police commissioner of New York City. "That woman caused an extreme amount of panic at the site. The information travels extremely fast, and the workers get hopeful." Initially about 10,000 rescue workers descended on the scene, divided among police, firefighters, EMTs, Army reservists, construction specialists, and civilian volunteers. That number is now less, but no hard figures were available.

No one would say yesterday how long it would be before the rescue operation ended, but many of the thousands helping search for survivors said they were holding out hope that some people could be at the bottom of the rubble in the basements of the twin towers. It will take weeks, perhaps months, for rescue workers to dig that deep. And several engineers yesterday said rain and continued pressure from above could cause the mound of wreckage to further collapse and flatten anything below. Against these odds, rescue workers leaving what is now officials expertise is here, but it is going to be pressed very, very hard," said Giuliani. Officials said they are determined to identify as many of the bodies as modern technology allows, and victims' families have begun surveying their loved ones' lives for the right kind of details.

Jeanne Trost, whose brother Gregory James Trost worked on the 89th floor of Tower 2 and has been missing since the attack, said she provided officials with an X-ray of her brother's leg, which would show where it had been broken an important identifying mark. She also described a gold ring he wore, with a black onyx and engraved with the head of a medieval knight, in case it emerges from the rubble. The office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, which is coordinating the identification effort, is preparing to process 300-700 samples per day, and to receive 20,000 tissue samples from the wreckage. It could be the largest application of DNA matching since forensic scientists began using the technology in the 1980s. The office has received offers of help from DNA laboratories from around the world.

"If been wonderful," said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office. "Any help that we need, we will get Given a tissue sample, technicians need an item of DNA against which to match it A toothbrush, for example, is laden with cells from the person who has used it, "1 i AFP PHOTO easy to spell, because people are 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 DNA from toothbrush DNA from remains fingerprint DNA data from sampling 13 3 victim's personal Hiienuuii iur respirctuuii piuuieuis or dust blurring their vision. These people are a whole dif ferent breed," said Richard Mark, 50, a physician at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, who has remaining vestiges of humanity Raja Mishraqf 'the Globe staff 'con-spent the past few days persuad- amid the massive pile: lost purses, tritmted to this report. IDENTIFYING VICTIMS put hopes in DNA testing 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Sorting the remains Medical examiners are preparing a database with files on each victim. Information from family and friends will be used to identify victims.

DNA identification Remains too small to be otherwise identified will be matched against DNA from a victim's toothbrush, hairbrush, or saliva sample from a pillow. 1 DNAfs The victim's DNA extracted is generated by from cells on distinct markers to build a item is matched against a victim's unique profile. The data are input that from remains until toothbrush. into a computerized database. an identification is made.

Families, By Mac Daniel and Gareth Cook GLOBE STAFF NEW YORK As rescue workers continued the search for survivors of Tuesday's terrorist attack, others here have turned to a different task: identifying the human remains being pulled from the steel and concrete of the World Trade Center. City officials have been creating files on possible victims, asking family members for a range of information that could be used to identify them, such as photos, dental records, and descriptions of jewelry, dothing worn on the day, tattoos, moles, and scars. But officials are pinning most of their hopes on DNA testing, a newer technology that is both reliable and well-suited to a situation in which, as they grimly noted, many victims may be in pieces too small to identify any other way. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani yesterday called on families of victims to come forward with anything that might contain a victim's DNA. Today, the city's medical examiner win ask those families to drop off such items as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, electric razors, unwashed eating utensils, worn and unworn undergarments, and even used chewing gum.

The massive effort could take months. Although officials said the city medical examiner's office recently has expanded and planned on doing all the testing itself, Giuliani announced last night that LabCorp will be helping. The GRAPHICHWEI WEN FOO. KATHLEEN hennrikus 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II I Traditional method Photographs provided by loved ones can help identify bodies. Other information that will aid the process includes descriptions of the following: Physical characteristics Hair color, scars, tattoos, moles, dental records, X-rays of broken bones, pacemakers, nail color, clothing worn on the day of the incident Jewelry Rings, necklaces, watches, bracelets SOURCES: Cellmark Diagnostics; Berkeley DNA Lab; 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 II II II II 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 and can be used for testing a decade or more later, said Mark Sto-lorow, general manager of Cell-mark Diagnostics, the DNA fingerprinting company that worked on the J.

Simpson and Unabomber cases. Stolorow said that there are many potential sources of DNA. Anywhere people have been living, he said, they leave a trail of themselves. "If cells could make a sound, you could hear them screaming all over a home," said Stolorow. Cellmark, which already does DNA work for the New York City Police Department, has offered its services to help.

Stolorow said the officials will create DNA fingerprints each a Harvard School of Public Health GLOBE STAFF 1 1 It I tl 1 1 .,1111111 II 1 1 1 record of distinctive DNA codes at 13 different locations from tissue found at the site, and create a computerized library that can match the tissue to material provided by families. It will be a massive effort but not an unprecedented one, he said. The Kosovo war crimes investigation used DNA to identify victims in mass graves, and a murder case in England was solved after authorities tested the DNA of virtually every man in the area. In New York, two refrigerated trucks for remains stand outside the medical examiner's office, with 60 more ready if they are needed, said Borakove. Temporary morgues were being erected yesterday near LaGuardia Airport as II a backup.

For some families that still walked the dust-gray city streets, clutching photos of those they may have lost, the prospect of DNA testing provided hope: that they can stop wondering, that they can have a definitive answer. But others weren't ready to stop believing they will turn a corner and find the one they love. "I don't necessarily want to give the toothbrush and the hairbrush away because I basically dont want to talk to a medical examiner right now," said Trost "We are hoping for a miracle, really." Gareth Cook can be reached by e-mail at cookglobe.com..