Rare resurfaced interview with man who survived 9/11 from 72nd floor as same tower collapsed behind him
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: ABC 7
People have been left floored after seeing a resurfaced video of an interview conducted on the day of 9/11, showing a man watch the building he'd just been in collapse.
September 9, 2001 is a date that will forever be etched into people's minds.
Almost 3,000 people died on the day in question after terrorist attacks shook America, marking the deadliest terror attacks in human history.
Carried out by Islamist extremists in al-Qaeda, plane hijackers caused two planes to crash into the Twin Towers in New York. A third plane was hijacked and crashed to the Pentagon in Virginia, while a fourth jet crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
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New York was undeniably the worst affected by the attacks after the the towers, both 110 storeys high, collapsed.
The physical clean up of the city took 10 months, but the mental effect it had on New Yorkers (and everyone else around the world) has been much longer lasting.
On the day of the attacks, American news outlets flocked to the city to get footage of the devastating ordeal and its aftermath.
In resurfaced footage, ABC 7 interviewed a man who had been in one of the twin towers was struck. Covered in dust and debris, he was chatting to the reporter and confirmed that he had been on the 72nd floor.
Referring to the 1933 World Trade Center bombing, the man said: "They've very strong buildings and you'll remember from the blast the last time."
But just as he made such sentiments, the man looked to his left and was evidently distracted. Then camera then panned around to show one of the twin towers — the same one the interviewee had just been in — crumble.
The harrowing footage has been shared on Reddit and people all echoing the same thing.
Warning: Some people might find the following footage distressing
"Imagine watching that knowing it was almost you," one person said.
"Incredible, to see your workplace, a place where you spent thousands of hours just turn to dust," wrote a second.
A third went on: "I just can't imagine how he felt. I'm sure he thought about all the people he passed on his way down that had stopped to rest, the people from his floor that he worked with, the rescuers who were going up as he was coming down. Just awful."
"Seeing the buildings disappear has always been terrifying. When the dust clears and there’s nothing there, it’s really chilling," added another.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].