SCORES of South Africans on Wednesday placed flowers outside the US embassy in Pretoria to express their sympathy following the terrorist attacks in the United States. Some of the people who flocked to the embassy said they had relatives in the United States and had feared for their safety while others simply said they were saddened by the deadly attacks. ”I don’t know anyone in America. I just feel so upset and unhappy,” Lucille Butow tearfully told reporters. US Charge d’Affairs Steve Buckler told those who gathered outside the embassy: ”We have been deeply touched by the outpouring of support and sympathy from the South African people.” The embassy was open on Wednesday only for essential services to US citizens while the US consulates in Cape Town and the east coast city of Durban were closed, but Buckler said all the US missions in South Africa would resume full services ”soon”. A memorial service for the victims of the attacks, estimated to number thousands, was held in Cape Town on Wednesday and will be followed by similar services in the central city of Bloemfontein on Thursday and in Pretoria on Friday. In Johannesburg, firefighters on Wednesday flew a US flag at half mast in a show of respect for their colleagues in New York who died when the World Trade Centre collapsed while they were trying to rescue people trapped in the building. – AFP