The Irish Red Cross this morning held a minute's silence for all those who have lost their lives in the last 24 hours.
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A statement from the organisation says this is a "gesture of sympathy for the injured and bereaved' grounded in the Humanitarian Principles that are fundamental to the Red Cross worldwide, and follows an immediate message of condolence sent to our colleagues in America".
A number of offers, both financial and personal, have been received by the Irish Red Cross, which is on `stand-by' mode following a request by their colleagues in the US branch.
People who wish to donate money are asked to contact the donations CallSave number, 1850 50 70 70. People who wish to donate blood are asked to contact the Irish Blood Transfusion service on their CallSave number, 1850 731 137.
The Red Cross in the US has activated its Aviation Incident Response (AIR) Team to respond in New York and trained disaster workers are providing relief to people in New York, Washington DC and Johnston, Pennsylvania.
The relief at the moment is principally mental health counselling and the provision of meals to both victims and emergency workers.
The American Red Cross is the largest single source of blood in the US, supplying all blood required by approximately half the hospitals in America, at 6 million units per annum.
