Ripples of shock rushed through the DR as Dominicans learned of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City and damage to the US Pentagon.
Two American Airlines and two United Airlines flights headed for California were hijacked before they crashed into the buildings around 9 am. Thousands are reported dead. For updates, see http://www.cnn.com
The DR is immediately affected by the grounding of all United States flights by the FAA until further notice. American Airlines is the main carrier into the DR. The decision also affects AA affiliates TWA and American Eagle, as well as Continental and USAir flights into the DR.
An estimated one million Dominicans live in New York.
News sources also point out that the offices of Morgan Stanley, in charge of issuing the Dominican Republic’s sovereign bonds, are located in the World Trade Center. Morgan Stanley owns 12.5% of one of the towers.
In New York City, all airports, bridges and tunnels into the city were closed. The United Nations building was also evacuated. The 56th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations was to be inaugurated today.
In addition to the shut down of the entire air traffic system in the US, the incident has caused the indefinite shut down of the US stock markets. The dollar fell to a one-week low against the Euro following the “apparent terrorist attack”.
The Dominican economy is intricately linked into the US economy. This incident could bring about a major decline in purchases from Dominican manufacturing free zones, the country’s leading exporters. The US is also the major source of travellers to the DR. (11 September 2001)
