Wind, rain interfere with WTC recovery

NEW YORK -- Stiff winds buffeted the World Trade Center on Saturday and rain began to fall after workers recovered two more bodies from the site.

The bodies were discovered separately in a smoky patch of rubble being excavated by heavy equipment operators. They were draped with American flags and carried from the site on stretchers by firefighters.

None of the large cranes at the site were used to move heavy steel beams after midnight, but it was not immediately clear whether the windy weather prompted authorities to suspend crane operations. Crews continued to scoop up debris at ground level.

Just after dawn, drizzle started to fall on the wreckage, prompting rescue workers to don rain suits but easing the acrid smell of burning debris.

The last Federal Emergency Management Authority rescue team at the site had been scheduled to finish its work at the site and leave New York by the end of this week. FEMA officials could not be reached to comment Saturday on whether the California-based team had left or would do so soon.

Funerals and memorial services were scheduled Saturday for 23 firefighters, two police officers and two Port Authority police officers who died or are missing at the trade center.

Another body was recovered Friday, just after authorities held the first memorial service for the 23 New York Police Department members still missing after the hijacked airliners brought down the trade center Sept. 11.

That morning, Officer Vincent Danz called his wife of a dozen years from the trade center and left a simple yet hopeful message on their answering machine: "I love you. I'll talk to you when I get out of here."

The memorial service for the father of three and 14-year police veteran was one of 18 funerals and services held Friday for uniformed personnel killed in the terrorist attacks.

The total number of people missing held at 4,986 on Friday, and the number of confirmed dead was 380.

The Bank of Nova Scotia said Friday that about $200 million of its gold and silver was buried below the wreckage. The metals were inside a vault and, "We have every reason to believe it is safe and intact," said Diane Flanagan, a spokeswoman for the Toronto-based bank.

Salvage workers were also told to turn over to police any weapons they find. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has yet to locate two evidence vaults from 6 World Trade Center, agency spokesman Joseph Green said.