Emergency drill stirs memories at World Trade Centre site

New York: It was an emergency drill, yet the scene of hundreds of firefighters, police officers and other first responders hustling around the World Trade Centre (WTC) site in New York on Sunday evoked the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Firefighters carried oxygen tanks, hoses and heavy axes into an underground train station, while police and other emergency personnel helped those playing injured - all part of a large disaster response exercise at ground zero.

More than 800 first responders participated in Sunday's mock terrorist attack, which simulated an explosion on a New Jersey-bound PATH commuter train in a tunnel. The police, firefighters and other emergency personnel joined about 150 volunteers, who posed as injured passengers smudged with grime and fake blood.

The hundreds of first responders represented the largest police and firefighter presence at the Trade Centre site since the aftermath of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The purpose of the drill was to improve inter-agency cooperation in the event of a real disaster.

"The motto for today is: You can never be too prepared," said Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs area transit hubs and owns the trade centre site.

The two-hour drill recalled the July 7, 2005, bombings on the London subway system more than the 2001 attack on the twin towers. It began with two 'bombs' going off at 8.01 am on a train in the tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey.

"Smoke filled the tunnel, and we had some 700 to 800 passengers on this train," said Joseph Bruno, New York City's commissioner of emergency management.

The PATH train service was suspended during the exercise, and streets around the Trade Centre site were blocked off.

Participating agencies included New York City's police and fire departments and its Office of Emergency Management and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, as well as the police department of the Port Authority, which operates the PATH trains.