Ukrainian American officer of Port Authority police, two citizens of Ukraine among the missing at WTC (09/30/01)

Ukrainian American officer of Port Authority police,
two citizens of Ukraine among the missing at WTC

by Andrew Nynka

NEW YORK - As workers in New York continue the grim task of rescue and recovery, and attempt to count those who have not come home or have not been heard from since September 11, there are reports that one American citizen of Ukrainian descent and two citizens of Ukraine may be victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Among the missing is Ivan (John) Skala, a police officer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a member of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM). According to The Record, a newspaper based in Bergen County, N.J., the Clifton resident, a paramedic in his town and neighboring Passaic, was one of the first officers to heroically respond to the World Trade Center on September 11 to help rescue those inside and has yet to be found.

The National Board of SUM said in a statement released on September 27: "We pray for our own SUMivets, Ivan Skala, who was such a hero and selflessly raced to the World Trade Center to save thousands of innocent lives. ... Our hearts are heavy with grief and prayer..."

The Consul General of Ukraine in New York, Serhiy Pohoreltzev, stated on September 26 that two Ukrainian citizens are missing as a result of the terrorist attack on New York City's Twin Towers. The Consulate is currently working with New York City police, fire and rescue teams, as well as local hospitals in order to determine the whereabouts of any other Ukrainian citizens who might have been victims of the attack.

The Consulate would not identify the two Ukrainian citizens on the list of those missing, but noted that one is a businessman believed to be working in one of the towers, and the second is a woman who had recently left her job at the Twin Towers and was believed to be moving to a new job at the time of the attack.

Confusion arose when the Consulate released a list of Ukrainian citizens living in the New York area who have family in Ukraine searching for them. Consul Pohoreltzev stressed that the people on that list - as of September 24 the list stood at 98 names of individuals or families, but the list fluctuates - had come to the United States.

Consulate officials have no reason or information that would lead them to believe the persons on this list are victims of the tragedy in New York. But Consul Pohoreltzev noted that families in Ukraine, upon hearing word of the terrorism in New York City and Washington, expressed concern about persons who have not kept in contact. According to Consul Pohoreltzev, the list was created by Ukraine's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yuriy Sergeyev, who then passed it on to the New York Consulate in an effort to help locate these persons.

According to the September 22 issue of The New York Times, similar confusion seems to have hit many of New York's consulates as staffs are swamped with requests from foreigners filing missing persons reports at embassies, including those of Israel and India, wanting to ensure that their family and friends are safe.

The problem, said Consul Pohoreltzev, is that the individuals calling have not kept in touch with the missing people even before September 11 and are now calling because they have friends or family who may have worked in the area. The problem is exacerbated, noted Mr. Pohoreltzev, because many of the foreigners searching cannot tell Consulate officials where their friends or relatives were working, be it Manhattan or New York state.

The New York Consulate's list of Ukrainian citizens believed to be missing due to the terrorist attack on New York currently stands at two, but Mr. Pohoreltzev added that, although he hopes this list will not grow, he is fearful that more Ukrainian citizens may yet be identified as victims.

The consul general said that he and his staff are checking hospitals for more of Ukraine's citizens, but notes that even if there are indications that more Ukrainians were working in the stricken area, identifying them may become difficult, even impossible, due to the level of damage and heat throughout the Trade Center buildings before their collapse.

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