UPDATE NEW YORK -- For the businesses that called the World Trade Center home, the task of accounting for thousands of workers is the next step. For some companies, it may take days, if not weeks.
The twin towers were home to such symbols of Western economic might as the Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Kemper Insurance, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( LEH), Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (MWD), Credit Suisse First Boston and Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW).
Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) said Wednesday that "several hundred" of its 1,700 employees were successfully evacuated from the World Trade Center after Tuesday's terrorist attack.
The insurance and consulting group's Marsh USA Agencies unit occupied floors 93 through 100 of the 110-story North Tower, which was struck near its top at 8: 45 a.m. EDT Tuesday by the first of two deliberate plane collisions with the towers.
A spokeswoman wouldn't comment specifically on the status of tenants on those floors, but said in addition to the successful evacuations, some of its employees had been away from the site for meetings or vacation.
"It's very safe to say that several hundred have been accounted for," the spokeswoman said, declining to be more specific. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the company had accounted for about 500 of its employees by midday Tuesday.
"Our efforts will focus on recovery efforts for the time being," she said.
In addition to Marsh USA, the group's Guy Carpenter Agencies unit occupied floors 47 through 54 of the South Tower, which was hit closer to its middle by the second plane collision at 9:03 a.m. EDT.
In a Web site posting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Marsh & McLennan said senior managers were directing their business units from the company's headquarters at 1166 Avenue of the America in Midtown Manhattan.
Normally 50,000 people work in the twin towers, but the first attack came when many workers weren't yet in their offices. Officials estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 people were in the buildings when the first plane crashed.
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said hospitals had treated 1,100 injured by Tuesday night. But apparently most of the victims remained buried.
Investment firm Morgan Stanley had 3,500 workers in the company's individual investor businesses in the south tower. In a message posted on the company's Web site, Chairman Philip Purcell said he was saddened and outraged by the attacks.
"In spite of this tragedy, all of our businesses are functioning and will continue to function," he wrote. "We are committed to resuming full operations as exchanges and markets reopen."
Bank of America is still trying to account for its hundreds of employees who typically work on the 9th, 10th, 11th and 81st floors of the World Trade Center's North Tower. The company doesn't have any confirmed reports of injuries or casualties.
A spokeswoman for the Charlotte bank said as many as 400 employees normally work in the office. The spokeswoman didn't know exactly how many workers were in the building when the planes hit, nor did she know exactly how many workers have already been accounted for.
The spokeswoman couldn't immediately describe the nature of the company's operations in the World Trade Center, but said all operating systems and data located there were backed up at alternate locations and are intact.
Fred Alger Management Inc said President David Alger was lost in the World Trade Center attack, and many of the firm's research analysts and portfolio managers remain unaccounted for as of Wednesday.
Of the 55 employees working on the 93rd floor of the North Tower, 38 remain unaccounted for, the company said in a statement Wednesday. All administrative and sales staff, as well as a small core of research analysts survived.
Fred Alger, the company's chairman and brother of David Alger, said he we would resume day-to-day active management of the investment firm. All of the administrative, marketing and fund pricing functions, which operate out of the company's Morristown, N.J. office, were unaffected. Dan Chung
