Cries echo around airport

Deafening cries echoed through Santo Domingo's Las Americas International Airport as relatives awaiting the arrival of loved ones collapsed in grief after being told that American Airlines Flight 587 crashed shortly after takeoff in New York.

Hilda Yolanda Mayor had escaped the 11 September attacks only to board the jet that tore into a New York neighbourhood. The attack on the World Trade Center - where Ms Mayor, 26, had worked in a firstfloor restaurant - left 41 Dominicans among the dead and missing. But yesterday's crash had taken a greater toll on the country. Leonidas Araujo Quesada, the manager of an airport cafe, said: "On the 11th there were people crying, but it was for everybody. Today it is for Dominicans."

About half a million Dominicans live in New York, one of its largest immigrant groups.

Like Ms Mayor, Roberto Despradel, 41, had built a life in New York but had family in the Dominican Republic. He and his two sons, Lorenzo, four, and Roberto, one, were heading to Santa Domingo for a week-long vacation. The father, a security guard, planned to introduce his sons to their grandparents for the first time. His wife, Ilsa Beauchamps, stayed behind to take care of their six-year-old daughter.

Miriam Fajardo screamed when it was confirmed that her sister, Norma Lilian Baloi, and three nephews, were aboard the flight. "Oh my God! I hadn't seen them in eight years. Now they're gone."

President Hipolito Mejia has declared three days of national mourning.

Suburb finds new reason for tears
My heart stopped, says NY tourism chief
Firefighter widow's shock at tragedy