New York to honour twin towers dead

The names of the 2,823 victims of the 11 September suicide attack on the World Trade Centre will be read out at ceremonies marking the first anniversary, New York authorities said yesterday. The former mayor Rudolph Giuliani will begin the tribute at a day of observance to be marked by a minute's silence and a bagpipe procession to ground zero.

Meanwhile, 66 people have been arrested for milking thousands of dollars from cash dispensers at a bank near ground zero after its computer network was damaged by the collapse of the twin towers. The surprise sweep is a sobering contrast to the image of New Yorkers rising as one in the aftermath of the catastrophe. Instead, a good number of its citizens allegedly saw the opportunity to cash in on tragedy.

Most poignant is the revelation that the institution, the Municipal Credit Union, was aware of the fault in its cash dispensing system that allowed customers to withdraw as much money as they liked, short-circuiting their overdraft ceilings. The bank, a not-for-profit organisation, decided to keep the machines working, because most of its members are city employees, including firemen, police officers and teachers.

The decision was taken partly as a matter of trust and partly because many of the heroes of 11 September were among that roster of customers. "We did this at a time of crisis in the city," Thomas Siciliano, the chief lawyer for the bank, said. "We did not realise on the first day there would be this kind of loss."

All of those already rounded up went $7,500 (£4,900) or more beyond their limits. One man who previously had never had a negative balance of more than $130, went on a spree, making 53 different cash withdrawals in addition to scores of Visa payments on his bank card, at places ranging from clothing stores to a Harlem motel. He spent $10,378 by the end of October.

Robert Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said the episode showed that "no good deed goes unpunished" in a city renowned for its voracity for the dollar. He said 35 other people were being sought and 4,000 more were being investigated.

The bank had asked for the money back or offered to convert the withdrawals to loans with reduced interest. All those arrested are among those who ignored the bank's pleas. They face up to seven years in prison, if convicted.

The main firefighters' union in New York has demanded that antiquated radios that created communications havoc on the day of the attacks are replaced as soon as possible. A consultancy report due shortly on the performance of the fire department is expected to reveal that "virtually no one" heard calls for the north tower to be evacuated 27 minutes before the adjacent south tower collapsed.