Copyright 2001
The Detroit News.
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On capital's streets, fright is vivid
Workers try to flee
city in gridlock.
`It's a bit surreal.'
By Alison Bethel and April Taylor / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- A sense of panic enveloped the nation's capital Tuesday as the West Wing of the White House, the U.S. Capitol and other major federal government buildings were evacuated following the crash of an airplane into the Pentagon.
The explosion occurred less than an hour after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, an icon of American capitalism, in the heart of New York City, taking down two of the most recognizable landmark buildings in the nation.
There also were reports that a plane went down at Camp David, the presidential retreat. Tuesday was the anniversary of the 1979 Middle East Camp David accord.
In downtown Washington, smoke could be seen billowing up from behind the Washington Monument, coming from the direction of the Pentagon.
In a city that thrives on politics and international business, all press conferences and government business were shut down, and major companies in the downtown area were evacuated. Even the many hotdog, flower and leather good vendors abandoned their streets and headed for safety.
The panic caused immediate gridlock as police officers closed the city's subway system and blocked off streets. Washington ground to a halt as travel was frozen up and down the East Coast.
There were no immediate reports of the number of people injured here, but officials said the injured were being taken to a hospital in Virginia. All available hospital personnel were called in and patients no longer in critical condition were sent home to make way for burn patients.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, was called in for a special briefing at an undisclosed location.
Buildings across the downtown area--including the Kennedy Center, the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Treasury -- were closed as people rushed to their cars and tourists fled to waiting tour buses only to sit in traffic as it inched along.
Three students from Dublin, Ireland, visiting Washington for the first time, were shocked to see smoke in their view of the Washington monument. Snapping pictures, 19-year-old Maryann Mackey said: "It's chaos."
Standing a few blocks from the White House, she had a full view of the mile-long caravan of cars trying to get through 14th Street, police sirens blaring, street cops blowing whistles.
"We saw a convoy go by with what looked like a SWAT Team. It all looks like something from a movie," said her companion, Eileen Kehoe. "I can't believe anybody managed to get this far. It's a bit surreal."
Students filed out of Georgetown University, American University, Howard University and other schools. George Washington University, located only blocks from the White House, had already announced last week that, in an unprecedented move, it would close for five days during the International Monetary Fund meetings here in two weeks.
District of Columbia police said they would respond only to 911 calls and asked residents who might see anything suspicious to call 311.
"A normal rush hour in this city looks like the boat deck scene for the movie Titanic," said Washingtonian Bob Milhaus, a sales manager at the Occidental Restaurant near the White House. "And this is worse than normal rush hour. This is real panic."
"Now we've seen it all. We've been through it all," he said, adding, "It's pure insanity and frightening to see what happens to this city and the country when something like this happens. I've lived in DC for over 35 years, been through protests, and Vietnam, but at no time have we seen things blown up in two cities simultaneously."
Alison Bethel can be contacted at 202-662-7373 or at abethel@detnewslcom.
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