Touched by cries from the heart

As the terrible events of Wednesday unfolded, people spoke of love, fear and loathing.

"We know that people on [one of the aircraft] appear associated with bin Laden ... I'm really ticked off." - Senator Orrin Hatch.

"What should I tell the pilot?" - Barbara Olson, wife of US Solicitor-General Ted Olson. She died in New York.

"It is unimaginable, devastating, unspeakable carnage." - firefighter Scott O'Grady.

"Today's events will cast a 20-year shadow over international civil aviation." - Phil Butterworth-Hayes, civil aviation editor, Jane's Publishing.

"We are being tested as a nation: we will show the world we can pass the test." - George W. Bush.

"The American cowboy is reaping the fruits of his crimes against humanity." - Iraqi state television.

"The cause espoused by whoever did this is now, officially, a lost cause. You can take that to the bank." - unnamed Navy officer.

"I want to nuke 'em all." - US Marine staff sergeant.

"I got her into a strap of the wheelchair and just carried her down the steps, down 68 floors, man." - World Trade Center worker who rescued a woman in a wheelchair.

"We're fucking dying." - World Trade Center worker.

"It's like a game of pick-up sticks. If you pull out the wrong one, they could all come crashing down. That's exactly what we're trying to prevent." - Fire chief.

"There were a lot of body bags. There were a lot of body parts." - Surgeon Andrew Feldman.

"Mommy, the building is on fire ... I can't breathe ... I love you, Mommy, goodbye." - Veronique Bowers, 28, Victim.

"An attack on one is an attack on all." - Nato Secretary-General Lord Robertson.

"I know we're all going to die - there's three of us who are going to do something about it ... I love you, honey." - Thomas Burnett, passenger on UA93.

"If it made people in small towns afraid to go to work in the morning, I think they really accomplished something in their minds." - Russell Kitchen, Capitol staffer.

"Everyone was screaming, crying, running - cops, people, firefighters, everyone," Mike Smith, New York fire marshall.

"I tried to help them but they didn't want anyone to touch them. The fire had melted their skin. Their clothes were tattered." - Donald Burns.

"This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life." - British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"What has happened is not only a crime against the American people or Government, but against humanity. It is a monstrous crime." - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

"It is a great day. This will teach George Bush a lesson." - 18-year-old Hamas supporter in Nablus.

"Bullseye." - Cairo taxi drivers watching TV.

"I want to let you know that I love you." - Doomed passenger Mark Bingham to his mother.

"All of a sudden there were people screaming. I saw people jumping out of the building. Their arms were flailing. I stopped taking pictures and started crying." - Michael Walters, a freelance photo journalist in Manhattan.

"This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it." Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican.

"This building would have stood had a plane or a force caused by a plane smashed into it. But steel melts and 24,000 gallons of aviation fluid melted the steel. Nothing is designed or will be designed to withstand that fire." - Hyman Brown, construction manager for the World Trade Center.

Full coverage: Terror in America

Pictures: Day 1 | Day 2

Brooklyn Bridge live webcam

Video

The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims and survivors

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068

Victims and survivors

Air New Zealand announcements

Air NZ flight information: 0800 737 000.