Rescuers got to 78th floor of trade centre

Newly discovered audiotape recordings of emergency transmissions from firefighters inside the World Trade Centre on 11 September last year reveal that a small contingent reached the 78th storey of the South Tower – higher than anyone previously realised.

The tape shows that at least two firefighters reached the 78th floor to assist survivors and douse fires. It was one of the storeys hit by the United Airlines plane. Until now it had been thought the rescuers never made it beyond the 50th storey.

Relatives of the 16 men whose voices are identified on the 78-minute tape were invited to a hotel in Manhattan on Friday to listen to it. "I didn't hear fear, I didn't hear panic," said Debbie Palmer, widow of Battalion Chief Orio Palmer. "When the tape is made public to the world, people will hear that they all went about their jobs without fear, and selflessly."

Mr Palmer was one of the men to reach the 78th floor along with Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca. Both died when the tower fell. Mr Palmer is heard alerting colleagues on the ground that he was sending 10 survivors down by the stairs and the lift that was still operating 15 minutes before the collapse. The group did not make it.

The tape was not discovered soon enough for consideration by the consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, which has compiled a report critical of flaws within the fire department that hindered the rescue effort, such as antiquated communications equipment.

The tape first fell into the hands of the New York Port Authority, which held back from sharing it with the police and only relinquished it on condition that a confidentiality agreement was signed. It could be used as evidence in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the Frenchman accused of plotting with the hijackers.