Bermuda's firefighters have been taking stock this week after more than 300 of their brotherhood were suspected lost among the carnage of the World Trade Centre in New York.

De-Roy Somner, 30, has been a fireman on the streets of Bermuda for five-and-a-half years and said nothing had struck him as hard as the US disaster on Tuesday, which is expected to take at least 5,000 lives.

About 300 firemen are still missing, along with 60 Police officers. All of them were called to the scene after the first plane smashed through the first of the twin towers in the Wall Street area of the city.

However, when both skyscrapers tumbled to the ground, they took with them everyone inside.

At Hamilton Fire Station yesterday, Mr. Somner said: "For me personally, I feel like I have lost a family member. The disaster has not affected us individually or physically here, but I consider anyone in the service my brother, and a great number of our brothers and sisters in the New York City fire service have gone, and that has affected us.

"People in the fire service tend to be very close, so I know the men and women remaining in New York will be helping each other through this. We all talk to each other here to see how we are all doing - if we see someone is down, we try to bring them back up.

"But being a firefighter in Bermuda is very different to New York, and I don't think we face the same kind of dangers, although it has made us all wake up.

"One thing, I would not want to be a firefighter in New York."

His colleague, Caleb Zuill, 28, who has been in the service the same number of years, said the whole sad affair this week still seemed surreal.

"It's like it's out of a movie," he said. "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up.

"I certainly think we have felt the sense of loss here.

"I feel quite safe as a firefighter in Bermuda because we are not exposed to the same kinds of things, but certainly, the loss of so many in the US makes you realise the possible consequences in a job like this.

"All the firefighters at work here have just been watching the news and following very closely what has been going on. I think we have all been talking about it - but it still hasn't really sunk in yet."

Division officer of the service John Pacheco said he could not comprehend that 300 firefighters in New York had possibly been lost. The total number of firemen in Bermuda is only 100.

But he said firefighters in Bermuda, although shaken by what had happened, were as prepared and as eager as ever for their next call.

He said: "We get very worried when firefighters go quiet, and on September 11 it was very sombre in here.

"When we heard about the horrific cost in life and property, everyone on duty was affected by it. But, we all made it through, and we are continuing.

"Even though we take in the information, I don't think we can fully comprehend what happened. It is not only those officers that were lost, but also those poor people who are digging through the rubble and debris. There will be a lot of emotional trauma afterwards."