The
World Trade Center Horror - Day 2 and 3
September
12
and 13,
2001
Photographs
by Frank X. Didik
Notice on publication rights: When I wrote the information and shot the photographs on September 11 and the following few days, I did not have any intention of commercializing this tragedy and what I saw. Many media companies and publishers have pointed out that this is a unique historic archive and that by publication, it serves as a tribute and memorial to this tragedy. For this reason, requests for publication of any photographs or text will be considered on a case by case basis. Altogether, I shot about 1,000 digital 1 megapixel photographs on September 11 through September 28, 2001. In addition, high quality, night photographs of the light memorial are available. Thumb nail images of some of the photographs are or will be available for review at: http://www.didik.com/NYCinPictures For details on publication rights and terms, please send an email to inq@didik.com.com. Please note that I strictly forbid the publication of any of my photographs that may contain graphic gore. I want to preserve the proper memory for those who suffered and their families. Between March and July, 2001, I photographed every building in Manhattan south of 72 Street including the entire area around the former World Trade Center. These photographs (covering the area prior to the World Trade Center disaster) are also available for publication. For this you may wish to log onto http://www.NYCinPictures.com or http://www.NEWS1.net. Thank you |
Some
images of how these
remarkable buildings appeared just a few
days ago.
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Most of the photographs shown below were taken
north of Houston Street and south of 14 Street
Click
on photographs to enlarge.
AN ACCOUNT OF ESCAPE: One person described an interesting escape from One World Trade Center, which was the first building hit, but the second building to collapse. The individual worked on the 81 floor. At about 8:45 AM, he heard and felt a large bang. At first, he did not know what had happened, but then, about 15 minutes later, he saw the explosion of World Trade Center Two and knew that it was time to leave. He took the elevator, which worked but then stopped suddenly at about the 50th floor. Luckily the elevator had stopped at a floor and he was able to open the door. He then ran towards the staircase and ran down a few floors, but as he continued to run, the smoke in the stairwell became worse and worse and he decided to leave the stairwell. The floor that he entered was completely vacant. As he tried to think of what to do next, he saw people falling from the building outside and he decided that, no matter what, he had to use the stairwell. He continued to run down the stairs through ever thicker smoke and eventually reached street level. He continued to run. Shortly thereafter, WTC2 collapsed. This account provides interesting information. Apparently, the evacuation of the two buildings started immediately after the first plane hit WTC1. Further, it shows that the buildings were substantially evacuated prior to collapsing. As shown in the above photographs, hundreds of flyers looking for missing people have been posted around the city, searching for any information on these individuals. After reading a number of these flyers, it is apparent that the vast majority of the missing people were working on the top floor of WTC1 and to a lesser degree, WTC2. It would seem that escape above the floors of the airline impact was very difficult. Perhaps the heat and fire prevented escape. Currently, the number of missing and known dead is just under 4600 people. A terrible and senseless loss of human life. MANHATTAN SITUATION Sept 12/13, 2001: The situation in lower Manhattan, north of the disaster is surreal. People are silently walking around, still in a state of shock. Many people are wearing masks to shield themselves from the plastic smell and from possible pollutants in the air. The city is strangely quite since the roads south of 14 Street, are completely void of cars, except for emergency vehicles. All roads leading south from 14 Street have police check points and road blocks. The west side of Manhattan, south of Harrison Street is without electricity and has been evacuated. The tens of thousands of residents who had lived in the relatively newly built Battery Park City have moved in with friends, or in some cases, with the many people who have out of kindness, volunteered rooms in their apartment. Most stores are closed as are any entertainment facilities, such as movie theaters and restaurants. A number of restaurants are offering free food to anyone involved in the rescue/recovery effort. Everyone, including all law enforcement officers, are very polite. Police and firemen from as far away as Ohio are patrolling the streets. The Manhattan, Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges are all closed, except for emergency traffic. All government buildings, such as post offices, police stations and other buildings have intense security. I walked past the Arabic area on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and noticed a substantial police presence. A number of Arab owned businesses are displaying the US flag. Patriotic symbols and slogans can be seen everywhere. In Manhattan, along Broadway, between 59 Street up to 70 Street, I noticed that someone had written ant-Arab statements in phone booths, using a magic marker. I think that this is an exception to the norm. |
Click here to read the account and see photographs, the day of the disaster.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS September 15, 2007: Recently, it has come to my attention that several conspiracy theory or "alternative view" websites and publications, without my permission and in complete violation of my copyright, are using my photographs illegally on their sites or printed books or pamphlets. In some cases, these sites have implied that I have given my permission to use my photographs either on their site or in their publication. This is absolutely not the case. I have never given my permission to use these photographs or any other photograph, in any "alternative view" publication or book. For example, the English book, "9/11 revealed: challenging the facts behind the War on Terror" used my photographs (which are registered in the United States Copyright Office), without my permission and without ever contacting me, even though my name and contact information is printed right on the photographs! Had the authors of this book Ian Henshall or Rowland Morgan or, the publisher Constable & Robinson, LTD contacted me and used the full sized images, rather than just the thumbnail which appears on this site, they would have had a much better understanding of what they were seeing. Copyright violation issues are being dealt with, one by one. |