Last Tuesday's terrorist attack on the United States (US) had a toll on attendance to work in most government departments in Bolgatanga.

Many workers turned up late at their various offices on Wednesday morning, the day after the incident. A survey by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) showed that some of the workers had either stayed late into Tuesday night to follow the unfolding horror on television screens or got helplessly glued to their sets on Wednesday morning.

In a number of offices visited on Wednesday, doors were still locked and premises vacant as at 0900 hours- workers normally get to their offices at 0800 hours.

When they eventually trickled in at about 1000 hours, most of the workers spent much of the morning discussing the incident. In an interview some expressed shock and disbelief at Tuesday's attack.

"Until yesterday I would not have believed that anything like this could happen to America," said a clerical officer at the Ministry of Agriculture.

On the streets of Bolgatanga, three out of five people spoken to said they had heard about the attack. They expressed sympathy for the victims and fear about what might happen next.