One of the towers begins to collapse

"I was apprehensive about going to Ground Zero. It has almost become a tourist attraction, which I find ghoulish and distasteful," he said.

On 11 September, two hijacked planes crashed into the towers of New York's World Trade Center, triggering explosions and fires that resulted in their collapse.

A third hit the Pentagon in Washington, causing a fire and multiple casualties.

A fourth hijacked passenger jet crashed in Pennsylvania, south east of Pittsburgh - all 45 people on board were killed.

Mr Tami said he felt he should visit the site.

Harrowing job

"I wanted to pay my respect to those who died, including the friends and family of constituents who were in the World Trade Centre when two Boeings were flown into them.

"When I arrived at the site it took some time for me to come to terms with what I saw.

I pray we will never again see such scenes of destruction again

Mark Tami MP

"Ground Zero covers a massive area of New York. It is now a dark and dusty pit, surrounded by skyscrapers, which act as a powerful reminder of what once stood there.

"On the day of my visit the authorities pulled another 12 bodies from the rubble.

"There is still a huge amount of debris at the site and the search for victims must surely be a harrowing job for the firemen. "

Mr Tami managed to speak to one of the fire fighters between shifts.

"I told him how the New York Fire Department had earned great respect and sympathy in Britain and across Europe.

"It was an experience that left an indelible mark on us all.

"I hope there will be a measured response and an attempt to identify clearly who was responsible for the attack

Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales

"We were left cold by what we saw and I pray we will never again see such scenes of destruction again."

His views have been shared by the Archbishop of Wales, who was near to the scene of the terrorist strikes on the World Trade Centre in New York.

The Most Reverend Dr Rowan Williams was 200 yards away in Wall Street when the hijacked passenger jets flew into the twin towers.

He called for a calm and thoughtful reaction to the events.

"I hope there will be a measured response and an attempt to identify clearly who was responsible for the attack and not go out in the spirit of revenge," he said.

"That can only increase the spiral of violence which has brought us to this place with such a loss of innocent life."