World News: Co-Ordinated attack on USA

Tradegy has struck this very sad day in the history of the US.

(This story is the collective work of ALL neowin members.)

UPDATED: US police swoop on truckload of explosives Yahoo Australia's news site.

UPDATED: CNN are reporting that DEFCON2 has been initiated. Also some borders in the US are being closed, with the Mexican border being the latest to close.

UPDATED: Most Financial markets in the world have closed, with the FTSE down 300 points in London. (Link via MSNBC)

UPDATED: Rivah: an reputable arabic newspaper out of london interviewed Bin Laden and he told them 3 weeks ago that there would be something BIG to hit american interests and it was going to have a devastating impact, Retired General Ramsey, Retired head of NATO said that there was only ONE organization that could pull this off, and it's bin Laden's.

UPDATED: Neowin has been informed by #news on efnet of this posting on Usenet dated 9/9/2001, with another posting dated the same time, that may be related, which has been passed onto the FBI, the BBC have personally been informed by Neowin, and I just called WHDH/Boston to inform them of this development.

UPDATED: President Bush is to address the US nation at 8:30pm EST. Full text of President Bush's speeech can be found on CNN's news site.

Earlier this morning, at 8:55am, EST, a hijacked American Airlines plane, Flight 11, flying from Boston (my home city) to LA, crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. This plane had 81 passengers and 11 crew on board.

A short time later, at 9:07am, an United Airlines plane, Flight 175, hijacked from Boston bound for LA, crashed into the second tower as news crews and onlookers watched in awe. This flight had 56 passengers and 9 crew.

While rescue efforts were taking place at the World Trade Center, the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, making rescue efforts very difficult. Also much later, the building next door then collapsed, no. 7 World Trade Cebner.

A third plane, United Airlines Flight 93 with 38 passengers and 7 crew on board was hijacked from Newark bound for San Francisco. This plane crashed just outside Shanksville, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

A fourth flight, American Airlines Flight 77, hijacked from Washington Dulles enroute to San Francisco, with 58 passengers and 6 crew, crashed into the Pentagon at 9:45am, which is now being reported as severely damaged and on fire.

A complete chronology of the events that have transpired today can be found at The NY Times site. Also on view are maps of the flight paths of the planes, Flight Tracker: World Trade Center and Flight Tracker: Pennsylvania Crash

The FAA has placed all flights in the US on hold until 12pm Wednesday 13th Sept 2001, and all international flights have been diverted to airports outside the USA.

Most of the news sites on the web are VERY VERY slow at this time, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOXNews, MSNBC, Reuters, and news stations all over the world are showing the coverage live.

The New York Port Authority said it had closed all bridges and tunnels into the city, as people exit manhattan island by foot over the bridges.

News source: MSNBC "Planes slam into World Trade Center", Only news site that I can get to at this time.