A NORTH-East student who was minutes from death during the New York terrorist attacks is due to return home tomorrow.

Alexia Gillen, of Hartlepool, was stranded in the city, desperate to get home, before the weekend.

But she contacted The Northern Echo yesterday to say she had managed to get a flight home.

The 20-year-old psychology student was on a subway train bound for the World Trade Centre when the terrorists struck.

Her train was stopped and evacuated at Times Square, and she watched the second plane hit and the twin towers collapse on huge television screens.

Alexia and two fellow students from Liverpool University have been staying in a youth hostel just off Central Park since the tragedies.

She said yesterday: "It does seem as though the mood has lifted among people today as more of us know when we can leave. However, the general mood in the city is still shock and sadness."

Alexia also described how the city was slowly getting back to normal, with more shops opening.

But she said it was still swarming with police who had to clear traffic to let emergency vehicles through