An Attack on the World
More Than 50 Countries Lost Citizens in Trade Center Towers

By T.R. Reid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 19, 2001; Page A01

LONDON, Sept. 18 -- Headline writers have called it an "Attack on America," but the wave of terrorism in the United States last week might more properly be labeled "Attack on the World." Hundreds of people from more than 50 countries are reported missing among the rubble, or confirmed dead.

The twin towers of the World Trade Center served as New York headquarters for companies from all over the planet. From Australia to Zimbabwe, from giant China to tiny Luxembourg, governments are warning families of the missing to expect the worst.

With the casualty lists stretching across six continents, it may prove easier for the United States to form a global alliance to fight back against the killers. Still, not every country that lost citizens in the attack is embracing military action at this stage.

The hardest hit among foreign countries appears to be Britain, which is estimating about 300 deaths -- roughly 6 percent of likely total fatalities. The British government has offered airfare and three nights' accommodations for relatives facing the dreadful journey to claim whatever remains are found.

Chile has reported about 250 people missing, Colombia nearly 200, Turkey about 130, the Philippines about 115, Israel about 113, and Canada between 45 and 70. Germany has reported 170 people unaccounted for, but expects casualties to be around 100.

Roughly 45 other countries have reported smaller numbers of citizens missing. Among the presumed dead are Belgians, Danes, Irish, Mexicans, Italians, Portuguese, Spaniards, Swiss, Cambodians, South Koreans, Taiwanese, Thais, Argentines, Brazilians, Ecuadorans, Paraguayans and a Peruvian who was working as a waiter at Windows on the World, a restaurant on the 106th floor of the North Tower.

Many of these numbers are preliminary, and are coming down as people are located safe and sound. Still, the toll is certain to be very high.

"This was in a very real sense, an attack on all of us. . . . We must stand united in response," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said this weekend, noting his country's losses.

The news media in most all of these countries have reported closely on the local casualties.

Mexican newspaper readers know of Martin Morales, a 22-year-old Mexican who worked in the kitchen of Windows on the World. He hasn't been seen since the attack; his cousin Virgilio Morales has been searching hospitals and morgues for him, to no avail.

"The people that did this enormous damage didn't only do it to the U.S., but to all of us, South Americans, Central Americans," Virgilio Morales told a Mexican newspaper. "We are united in our pain. We lost family members, friends, much of our people."

Deborah Herrera, 30, a Mexican employee of Morgan Stanley who worked on the 61st floor of the South Tower, noticed something was wrong when she began seeing pieces of paper flying around outside, like in a ticker-tape parade, media reports said. But then people noticed that the papers were on fire.

She started down the stairs, which began to fill with smoke. Loudspeakers told people to return to their offices, but she pressed on. "I kept running down the stairs," she was quoted as saying. "I ran into many firefighters who were on their way up."

The Mexican Consulate in New York said that 19 of an estimated 500 Mexicans who worked in the World Trade Center have not been accounted for.

Muslims were not spared in the attacks. In addition to the Turkish victims, Bangladesh, a largely Muslim country, estimates that at least 50 of its nationals died. Another Muslim country, Pakistan, is reporting a large toll of missing but only one confirmed dead. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, reports one confirmed dead and at least one missing.

Officials in Tokyo say 22 of approximately 300 Japanese nationals working in the twin towers remain missing and are feared dead. Twelve of the missing worked in the offices of Fuji Bank in the 79th through 82nd floors of the South Tower; some 34 relatives of people who worked at the bank have gone to New York for a sad vigil. In addition, relatives and officials are still trying to contact 70 or 80 Japanese living or traveling in New York, though there was no indication they were at the World Trade Center when it collapsed.

Minoru Tahara, 45, may have been saved by an errand. The bureau chief of the West Japan Bank normally arrived at work in the World Trade Center by 8:30 a.m., but an errand made him late. The first plane smashed into his building before he entered it.

Two more Japanese died in hijacked airplanes.

Officials at the German Foreign Ministry said today that they believe the toll was about 100 Germans. Most of the people feared dead have not been identified. But at least four German nationals were on the hijacked planes, including three executives from BCT Technology, based in Willstaett in southern Germany. President and CEO Heinrich Kimmig, development director Klaus Bothe and human resources director Wolfgang Menzel were on their way to contract negotiations with a company in Southern California.

At the German Consulate in New York, a 24-hour crisis center has been running for a week to deal with the thousands of calls that have come in, said Werner Schmidt, the consulate's spokesman. "We are also providing a team of psychologists who are trained in experience of disasters to help counsel people who may have lost relatives."

Yuri Zubarev of the Russian Embassy in Washington said that 200 Russians were originally reported missing but that the embassy has accounted for half of them through calls to a hot line. No Russians are confirmed dead.

Still missing is Aleksandr Ivantsov, a young computer programmer who was at work on the 104th floor of the North Tower. According to reports in Russia, Ivantsov had graduated from college two years ago and found work, through the Internet, at a computer company specializing in Russian-language programs. His boss left the office five minutes before the plane hit; Ivantsov stayed behind.

"It's just not possible that such people as my baby could perish," said his mother, interviewed by the Russian television network NTV from her home in the Russian Far East. "I think my son's alive."

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that two Chinese citizens -- an elderly couple who had been visiting their young daughters -- were confirmed dead. They were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. One Chinese national was also reported injured.

"We have put advertisements in Chinese papers in New York, asking people to inform their family members they are safe," said a spokesman. Six hot lines have been set up to deal with the volume of calls. "People in China have held demonstrations to show their sorrow," he added.

Even in Ghana, news of the disaster traveled fast, according to Francis Tsegah, acting ambassador to the United States. He said two Ghanaians who worked in the World Trade Center had been reported missing. "Almost every family in Ghana has relatives or friends in the U.S.," he said. "A lot of Ghanaians come here to work. All the local stations started showing CNN instead so people could get to know what was going on by the moment."

Four Irish nationals have been confirmed dead: Ruth Clifford McCourt and her daughter Juliana, and Patrick Currivan, all on Flight 11, plus Mychal Judge, a New York Fire Department chaplain who was eligible for an Irish passport because his parents were Irish.

People in Ireland also feel for the great number of Irish Americans whose fate remains in question. The embassy in Washington and government offices in Ireland have had about 3,000 inquiries since the disaster from people desperate to check that relatives were safe.

Some of the countries with the highest death tolls have strongly backed U.S. calls for retaliation. But it is hard to say whether the loss of their own people pushed them in that direction; they tend to be nations that have fought alongside Americans in other recent conflicts.

Canadians have risen to show solidarity with the United States; many mourned openly after the attack. A running theme of anti-Americanism among Canadians has largely disappeared.

Canada's prime minister, Jean Chretien, said in the House of Commons that Canada would stand with its allies, even though it could cost Canadian lives. "So let us be clear: This was not just an attack on the United States," Chretien said. "The world has been attacked. The world must respond."

British Prime Minister Blair, whose country is a close U.S. ally, has been equally supportive, making it clear that Britain will send air, sea and ground troops on any mission to punish the perpetrators.

Blair plans to visit Bush in Washington on Thursday, presumably to confer about the military response. He then plans to visit Ground Zero in New York to pay tribute to the several hundred countrymen believed to have lost their lives.

Correspondents DeNeen L. Brown in Toronto, Peter Finn in Hamburg, Doug Struck in Tokyo, Susan B. Glasser in Moscow and Kevin Sullivan in Mexico City contributed to this report. Staff writer Glenda Cooper contributed from New York.