of the blast aftermath.

"Victims were wandering around the financial area in an obviously distressed state,'' said the Bermuda-based international company boss.

"A lot of people had endured a tough battle to get out of the building. Women were crying and people's faces were covered in soot.

"Many of them were standing silently waiting to telephone their loved-ones to tell them they were all right.'' Mr. James and his partner Mr. Hal Forkush were on the 18th floor of a skyscraper opposite the World Trade Center when the bomb went off, killing five people and injuring more than 1,000.

"The force of the explosion was incredible. It made the whole building shake,'' said the 35-year-old Briton.

"Everyone ran to the windows to see what had happened. It was impossible to tell at first but we all knew it was something of great significance.

"The only thing we could see was black smoke coming out of a huge vent over which the Port Authority Trans Hudson Railway runs.

"Our immediate reaction was that a large transformer had exploded or that a PATH train had gone full tilt into a buffer.'' They only began to grasp the full horror of what had happened some 15 minutes later when they saw thick, black smoke billowing out of different vents at Manhattan's tallest building.

"We didn't immediately go outside because the whole street was being closed off and it was chaotic,'' he said.

When they did venture out about two hours later, he said that apart from the smoke, there was no other indication that the building had been bombed.

"None of the windows had been blown out and we could see no flames,'' he said.

"The only broken windows were those that people had thrown furniture through to provide some air.'' Mr. James' firm Atlantic Security, is the Bermuda insurance broker for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center.

"It was just a coincidence,'' he said. "I was not in New York on Port Authority business.'' It was also reported yesterday that Mr. Steven Germain, a vice-president and general counsel of Bermuda-based Centre Re, had his car blown up in the incident.

Mr. Germain could not be reached for comment yesterday, although staff at the New York office confirmed that his car had been damaged.

Colin James.