Up to 3,000 students at New York University (NYU) were evacuated from their student residences following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. The main campus of the university, which has a total enrolment of 51,000, is located in Greenwich Village, largely around Washington Square in lower Manhattan.

All of lower Manhattan below 14th Street was sealed off on Tuesday night following the atrocity. Areas close to the site of the disaster were evacuated - including a number of student residences owned by NYU in the heart of the financial district.

According to a NYU spokesman, "no student or faculty member that we know of has been injured or harmed", and no building received any direct damage.

The evacuated students were encouraged to find accommodation with friends. "The reaction of the student body has been fantastic," the spokesman said. "Offers poured in." No more than 250 students ended up using the emergency accommodation provided by NYU in the university's Coles Sport and Recreation Facility.

College authorities also laid on 24-hour canteen facilities for students from the evacuated area. Many university administrative staff stayed on campus overnight.

Meanwhile, at NUI Galway the impact of the horrific events in the US has resulted in a number of measures to help the 400 US students and staff at the campus.

"The university has an extensive range of links with many institutions and individuals in the US," said Professor Ruth Curtis, vice-president for development and external affairs. "We have collaborative links with many American third-level institutions in areas of research, teaching and student exchange. In addition, many of the university's 40,000 graduates live and work in the United States. Curtis said the university's main concern right now is for the 400 US students who have registered for their "Junior Year Abroad" programme.

"Many of these young people are very upset and far from home and the support which we give them at this time is vital. Student counsellors and chaplains have been inundated and have reacted by setting up a support centre with facilities, including counselling and medical services and a bank of telephones, to enable them speak with their friends and relatives in the US," Curtis said.