A COMPUTER game based on the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre prompted an outcry last night.

The official website of 9/11 Survivor tells players they can recreate the horrific events at the Twin Towers by downloading the game onto their computers from the Internet.

The aim is for the game's character to flee from the disaster but when escape routes are blocked they are left with the choice of burning to death or jumping from a window.

Publicity for the game boasts that it contains real-life sound effects of people screaming and buildings collapsing.

Three people in America are taking credit for developing the game - although some industry experts wonder if it is a hoax.

Although the game is not yet available, a free demo is promised within weeks.

But the game has provoked outrage on the second anniversary of the September 11 atrocities with calls for it to be removed from the Internet.

Fred Hasson, chief executive officer of the Independent Game Developers Association, said: "No one in the proper commercial business world or any decent human being would want anything to do with this. There are always some sick individuals around who are going to do things that don't conform with the kind of proper ways society should behave, and I can only condemn it. I would urge the Internet service provider to remove the site immediately."

Joan Sutherland - whose daughter, Gillian Cruse, was working near the Twin Towers at the time of the terror strikes - said: "It is very disrespectful to the people who died."

Mrs Sutherland, of Newton Hall, Durham, visited Ground Zero in the summer during a trip to to see her daughter.

She said last night: "It was a very emotional experience. This game is very distasteful to say the least."