New technology to track cell phones in rubble

From Dave Adhicary
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- To help in search efforts, a federal agency is asking for cell phone or pager numbers of people feared lost in the World Trade Center collapse.

"Cutting-edge radio frequency sniffers" from Lucent Technologies will be used to track down the devices, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

A toll-free, 24-hour-a-day hot line is now operational at 877-348-8579 for families of victims to call and provide the numbers of any cell phones or pagers victims might have had with them when terrorists attacked the center Tuesday morning.

Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, Skytel and several other wireless companies will help in the operation, FEMA officials said.

The companies are participating in a Wireless Emergency Response Team, which is deploying all possible state-of-the-art technologies to support search-and-rescue operations at ground zero. The team has been working around the clock since Tuesday's attacks, FEMA said.