Contract caterers caught in disaster

News is beginning to filter through of hospitality firms caught up in Tuesday's tragic events in New York and Washington DC.

Contract caterer Aramark said that all its employees at the Pentagon had been accounted for and were unharmed.

The majority of its 40 employees at the World Trade Center Tower 2 had been accounted for and it was still seeking information on the others.

A "small number" of its workers were in Tower 1. Only some have been accounted for.

About 30 other Aramark staff were in World Trade Center 7, which collapsed on Tuesday evening. They have all been accounted for, although one was hospitalised.

Compass Group said many of the buildings in New York where it held catering contracts were no longer standing, but none of its employees were among the casualties.

The affected accounts are Lehman Brothers, Solomon Smith Barney and Credit Suisse First Boston. An Au Bon Pain and a Krispy Kreme were also destroyed.

With the Lower Manhattan area still closed, business has been affected at many of Compass's other accounts.

These are: American Express, NYNEX, Chase Manhattan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Nomura Bank, Brown Brothers, Cleary Gottlieb, Datek, Dresdner Kleinwort, Moody's, Saatchi & Saatchi and SIAC.

Eight Au Bon Pain restaurants in Lower Manhattan are closed.