Long delay with CURL

I'm trying to write a PHP function that will go out to several sites
to grab data using the CURL function. The results are then reformatted
and displayed to the visitor.

The problem is that I need to go out to 5 or more sites and each one
takes approximately 10 to 30 seconds. So the problem I am faced with
is, this is way too long (2+mins) forthe website visitor to wait. I'm
not sure if PHP supports anytype of threads or any other way I could
the task faster.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.