12 NY firemen held after melee

Published November 4, 2001

NEW YORK, Nov 3: About a dozen New York City firefighters were arrested on Friday after they stormed the site of the World Trade Center disaster, known as ground zero, to recover bodies of their co-workers feared dead.

On September 11 following the attacks 343 fire fighters and 23 Police officers were buried under the rubble of the falling debris of the Trade center tower. The firefighters desperately want to recover the bodies of their fellow workers, while the City’s mayor Rudolph Giuliani wants a closure and clean up the site.

Firefighters are livid over the city’s decision to cut to 25 the number of fire department rescuers at the scene at any one time. They called the move a betrayal of the hundreds of bravest believed buried in the wreckage. Only 91 bodies have been recovered of the 343 firefighters listed as missing.

A strong bond had developed between the New York City’s firefighters and the police officers following loss of life’s of their comrades in the disaster.

The firefighters were arrested after they overturned police barricades as the rally turned into a melee just a block from the still-smoking wreckage.

The fire fighters said “Its all about money. The mayor does not care about the people to laid their lives to rescue people.”

The kind of conduct displayed today is unacceptable,” Mayor Giuliani said. “You can’t hit police officers. You can’t disobey the law. No matter how bad you feel, no matter how much you feel like crying.”

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