A Bermudian described how New York's World Trade Center collapsed into downtown Manhattan earlier this morning after two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers, causing massive damage.

"I want to come home, we're all scared here," said Yvonne Morgan, who also told how she witnessed one of the airplanes deliberately crash into the towers as she travelled to work on the bus.

"It was like a dart and it drove straight into the building. There was a huge boom and everyone on the bus screamed," said Ms Morgan, who works at the Bermuda Tourism Office in Midtown Manhattan.

The tragedy was one of at least three apparent terrorist attacks on the United States, one of which saw another plane crash into the Pentagon building in Washington and another jetliner crash in Pennsylvania.

One of the airliners that crashed in New York was known to be an American Airlines Boeing 757 with a capacity of 176 people, flying out of Boston and on its way to Los Angeles. The other aircraft was reported to be a Continental flight but this remained unconfirmed.

As she spoke to The Royal Gazette by telephone, Ms Morgan screamed as she saw on television how the entire structure collapsed into the heart of New York's financial district.

"Oh my God. The second half of the building just fell! I can't speak now, I've got to go," she said.

Contacted again minutes later, Ms Morgan said: "We can't believe this, we're just so upset!"

She said: "Everything's just chaos in New York right now. Everything's shut down and it's impossible to go anywhere."

Describing the plane crash, Ms Morgan said: "It was like something out of a movie. We already saw that one of the buildings was smoking. Then, while I was looking at it, a plane just crashed into it. It was like a dart and it drove straight into the building. There was a huge boom and we saw an explosion and lots of sparks. Everyone on the bus screamed.

"It looked like it was deliberate. There's no way that two planes could have crashed like that simultaneously. At first I thought it was the other building falling into it but it was a plane.

"It was malicious. I'm sure of it. How could someone do that!?"

Ms Morgan said while she was on the bus some of her colleagues said they heard the sound of a large aircraft flying low over the city.

"They said `that plane is flying too low' when they heard it."

Asked whether she thought the apparent attack had anything to do with current troubles in the Middle East, she said: "Oh, absolutely. I think it was just people that don't like a lot of Americans and want to show the world that America is not invincible."

And asked why she thought the World Trade Center had been chosen as a possible terrorist target, Ms Morgan said: "Because they knew that would be a place where there were a lot of Americans. They wouldn't have chosen up here in midtown, near the United Nations, because there are a lot more foreigners here."

In regards to the safety of people in her office, she said: "It seems as if everyone here is okay. We think we're all right here. There are a lot of people calling from Bermuda to find out if we're all right. Don't worry, we're okay."

Asked to describe the scene on the streets of Manhattan, Ms Morgan said: "There are just lots of people standing around just trying to find out what's happening. This is unbelievable."

She noted that people in her office were trying to get hotel reservations in the city because they knew that, with transport systems shut down, there would be no way in and out of the city later today.

Another Bermudian, Arthur Rankin, who is on a business trip to New York and staying at an apartment in the Midtown area, described his reaction when he first found out about the crashes.

"I'm in shock and disbelief. Whatever is going on, it is almost certain that it was not a chance thing. We'll find out as time goes on that this sort of attack means war. I'm sure that there are going to be thousands of casualties."

Mr. Rankin said he knew many people who would have been working in the Wall Street area at that time in the morning and voiced his concern for them.

And he said: "The streets of New York are in absolute chaos. It's gridlock here. This is going to paralyse the city for some time. All the tunnels have been closed down and all of the airports are shut."

Picture: Passengers react after landing at Bermuda International Airport today. Photo by Arthur Bean