9/11: No 'turf battles'

2004-05-19 19:42

New York - Police and fire services were unable to work together after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre towers because they had no system to co-ordinate their work, according to a report released Wednesday by an official inquiry.

While the commission looking into the 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda has repeatedly praised the bravery of the emergency services it has also highlighted confusion and some rivalry between the two departments.

The commission on Wednesday held the second of two days of hearings in New York into the emergency service response to the disaster.

'Turf battles'

The report told how the fire and police departments had their own emergency response plans, but nothing that could enable them to work together.

"Any attempt to establish a unified command on 9/11 would have been frustrated by the lack of communication and co-ordination among responding agencies," said the report.

"On 9/11, the problem was less about turf battles on the scene. It had more to do with command systems designed to work independently, not together.

"Since 9/11 a consensus is emerging within the emergency response committee that a clear incident command system should be required of all response agencies."

The report said "effective decision-making" after the hijacked planes struck the two towers which later collapse was "hampered by limited command and control."

It said the "magnitude of the incident" took emergency chiefs by surprise, that they could not communicate with firefighting teams. More units arrived than had been ordered by commanders and "once units arrived at the WTC, they were not accounted for comprehensively and co-ordinated."

About 2 750 people died in New York, including 343 firefighters and 23 police officers.

- AFP