|
|
World Trade Center, New York City, 2001
At about 8:45 a.m. on September 11, 2001, a hijacked commercial airliner struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Shortly after 9:00 a.m., another hijacked aircraft crashed into the South Tower. While evacuation, rescue, and attempted fire-suppression activities were under way, both 110-story towers collapsed, the South Tower at about 10:00 a.m., and the North Tower at about 10:30 a.m. Other buildings in the 16-acre site were seriously damaged, including Building Seven of the World Trade Center complex, which collapsed on the evening of September 11, after an extended blaze. Approximately 3,000 people were killed in the incident, and about 7,000 were injured.
Emergency responders arrived to two high-rise building fires and entered the towers to assist evacuation of the occupants and perform search and rescue and fire-suppression activities. The towers then collapsed, killing hundreds of responders, including the top leadership of the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) who had been in charge at the scene. A total of 450 responders were killed, including 23 from New York City Police Department, 343 from FDNY, and 74 from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The responders lost in the Trade Towers collapse were among the most experienced, highly trained, and extensively equipped special operations and leadership personnel in their response organizations. Approximately 320 emergency responders were treated for injuries or illnesses at five nearby hospitals; others were treated at temporary triage stations.
Responders and backup supplies were dispatched from all over the country, including 20 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) task forces. As many as eight USAR teams worked at a time. The last task forces were released on October 7. In January 2002, the New York City government turned over day-to-day management and operation of the site to a private construction company.
©2002 Fathom, Inc. |