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07th Sep 2021

Video shows moment US students caught 9/11 attack on film

Danny Jones

The spine-chilling footage captures the exact moment the second plane hits the South Tower

As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, one of the darkest days in modern history, some truly unbelievable footage has resurfaced showing a group of US students capturing the terrorist attack on camera.

The video was filmed by Caroline Dries, an American TV writer and producer who was a student at NYU (New York University) at the time. Dries and her roommates were woken by the sound of an explosion and ran to the window of their dorm to see plumes of smoke coming out of the North Tower.

While continuing to film, one roommate can be heard calling her mum, while another turns on the TV to find out more about what’s going on. It’s not long after that they start to see what they fear are people leaping from the burning building before they are shocked by the second plane suddenly hitting the other tower.

Prior to the second impact, one student can be heard saying, “It looked like an airplane crashed into the building!”, to which Dries replies “Thank God it wasn’t terrorists, though”.

The young students fear and confusion is just as palpable now as it was two decades ago. Speaking to CNN in 2011, ten years on from 9/11, Dries said: “We were kids, like we were so vulnerable and so naïve. My reaction was ‘there’s no way people are going to be jumping to their death’. [I] just couldn’t go there.”

On September 11th 2001, a total of four coordinated attacks – namely two were carried out by the terrorist group al-Qaeda, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and tens of thousands of injuries. Furthermore, the rescue mission left first responders and those who survived with serious health problems from which they are still suffering to this day.

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