Search-and-rescue workers ordered to leave Pentagon damage site; hopes dim for survivors

By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Search-and-rescue workers at the Pentagon were temporarily evacuated Thursday morning following a telephoned bomb threat, a U.S. official said. Crews had worked through the night with little hope for finding more survivors.

So far, about 70 bodies have been removed, two days after a hijacked plane slammed into the Defense Department headquarters in an attack by terrorists.

A nonspecific telephone threat about a bomb forced the evacuation of the rescue workers, a Pentagon spokesman said. The call came some time before 6 a.m. EDT, and workers were allowed to return to work about two hours later, said spokesman Maj. Jay Steuck.

"They are now back at the site and working on the recovery program," Steuck said.

Search-and-rescue workers were shoring up unstable areas around the impact site and were hoping to be able to enter that area later Thursday to search for more remains as well as the airplane's recorders.

Fairfax County Fire Capt. Jerry Roussillon estimated that 70 bodies have been removed from the building. He said engineers were still working to stabilize the building near the area where the plane hit.

"We're making inroads into the impact area foot by foot now," he said. Roussillon, adding it could take several days to complete a sweep.

Crews began removing victims' remains Wednesday afternoon but there was no word on how many bodies were recovered. By evening, crews had started tearing down unstable parts of the building to continue their search. They hoped to have enough demolition work done by morning to enter the impact area.

Arlington County, Va., Fire Marshal Shawn Kelley said searchers know "the general area within the building where they can find the black box," but couldn't get there because it still was unstable.

A small American flag planted on the roof spoke to the Pentagon's determination to restore its spirit despite the horrendous breach of its famous walls.

The little flag was replaced late in the day by a huge one. A dozen firefighters held the banner aloft on the roof, in a display timed to coincide with a visit from President Bush. Then they draped it near the stricken section, a bold display of red, white and blue hanging two-thirds of the way down the wall.

Meantime, stories of harrowing, nick-of-time escapes emerged.

Army Specialist Michael Petrovich, 32, threw a computer through a window, then jumped out behind it, officials said. He has second-degree burns.

Army Lt. Col. Marion Ward, 44, jumped from a second floor window after the plane hit, and suffered smoke inhalation and a sprained ankle. Retired Navy Cmdr. Paul Gonzalez, 46, a budget analyst, got out through the hole in the wall just before the area collapsed. He was in serious condition with burns and respiratory distress.

First lady Laura Bush visited the three in a hospital.

Authorities did not rule out finding people in adjacent areas after a wrecking ball could be used to clear unstable debris, but they did not appear confident of that possibility. Four search and rescue teams each with 70 members were working around the clock looking for survivors, though Pentagon officials acknowledged the prospects of finding anyone alive was extremely remote.

"Anyone who might have survived the initial impact and collapse could not have survived the fire that followed," the department said in a statement.

Washington-area hospitals treated at least 94 people from the Pentagon, with a minimum of 10 in critical condition. Among them was Louise Kurtz, 49, who was starting her second day of work as an Army accountant. She had burns on about 70 percent of her body.

"I didn't recognize my wife of 31 years," said Michael Kurtz. "I saw a person who looked like a mummy. I'm mortified and shocked like the rest of the country."

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