Hundreds of Bermudians tried unsuccessfully to get hold of family members, colleagues and friends in New York following the terrorist attacks yesterday.

But no calls could get through after telephone lines to the US were blocked and the only form of contact was e-mail.

Families with children attending the College of Insurance, which is next to the World Trade Center, also tried in vain to get hold of their children this afternoon.

The college closed, according to the Web site, and it advised students without anywhere to go to head to the alumni hall in the borough of Queens.

The College of Insurance is five blocks from the World Trade Center, but it is believed not to be damaged after the World Trade Center collapsed in on itself.

Telephone lines to the United States were cut out after the blasts and Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) and the Chamber of Commerce were inundated with calls from businesses and family members desperate for any information.

BTC put extra people on the telephones to man the enquiries about long distance calls, but they said it was the carriers who could answer queries.

Ona Fletcher, spokesperson for BTC, said: "BTC is not a long-distance carrier and customers who call the operator do not have an increased chance of getting through to the United States during this emergency situation. BTC advises that residents should continue to try to dial the United States directly as the lines may clear within the next 24 hours."

But at the time of going to press it was still not sure what had happened to lines and why connections were still down. International carriers Cable & Wireless said they had been working on reconnection all morning.

A spokeswoman said that a number of voice circuits to the Manhattan area had been down, but they had re-routed these and they were back up.

But they said that the extent of damage to lines on the ground in the United States was not known, although connection had been re-established here.

"However our data connections are still down as they were a target of the terrorists," she added.

TeleBermuda International said that its network, which transports voice and data traffic from Bermuda to the rest of the world, was not cut off.

James Fitzgerald, president of TBI, said: "TeleBermuda's network is functioning as it always has, in delivering its customers' voice and data communications through its fibre-optic network.

"Traffic on the TBI network from Bermuda to the United States is being efficiently handled. Congestion and delays which some customers may be experiencing when using telecommunication services are attributable to the high levels of telecommunications traffic that are being initiated within the North American telecommunications network itself."

Both BIBA and the Chamber of Commerce organisations said at the time they were trying to give out as much information as possible but faced the same communication restrictions. Neither organisation said they would be shutting.

"We have been trying to make sure that all our associates are all right," said Pat Phillip-Bassett, chief executive officer of BIBA. "There are planes being diverted to land here and we have been asked to help look for accommodation for these people. We are in shock. There is one of our members of staff who has a close relative in one of the towers and we have been trying to help her and find out what has happened. We are not shutting. If people need information, we need to be here.

"At this point we do not know what kind of information we can give or what we can do, but we want to make sure we are accessible and open. We are trying to keep everything on an even keel.

"The College of Insurance is not that far away from the World Trade Center and obviously there are huge connections with people here with the financial institutions and many other businesses in New York. A lot of people are calling and I am not sure yet what we can do, but we are here. How can people be so evil?"

Diane Gordon, head of the Chamber of Commerce, also said that her offices had been inundated with calls, but they would remain open.

"I am not sure there is anything anyone can do," she said. "We are absolutely appalled. Our heart goes out to the US and to all the people injured and who have passed away in the tragedy."

She said meetings the Chamber had scheduled for today with international businesses had been cancelled and that a course this afternoon was possibly being changed to be a crisis management course to help businesses.

"I am going back to the offices and we will do all that we can to help the people of Bermuda find out information on the disaster."

She thanked all the members of the chamber who had offered to put people up in their homes and said that David Ezekiel, who is head of the International Business division, had driven out to the airport to see if he could assist with operations.