Photo Story by Paul Turner

I am a British graphic designer and photographer who was travelling to the USA with my wife Ann and daughter Helen for the first time in September 2001 to celebrate my 50th birthday.

We arrived in Boston on September 3, 2001 and spent a relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable week touring around New England before checking in to our hotel near Times Square on Monday 10th, for three days of sightseeing in New York before we were due to fly back to the UK.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11th, we had an early breakfast, stopped at an Internet Cafe to tell our friends and family we were having a great time, and caught the subway to South Ferry. We had planned to take a ferry trip to Liberty Island and Ellis Island as it was such a beautifully clear morning.

We walked into Battery Park just after 9am, and saw smoke pouring from the upper part of a tall building - at that time we thought that it was an office fire and I started taking some photos as the flames and smoke started to get worse. There were a few groups of people close to us watching the fire and we overheard somebody say that an aircraft had crashed into the tower, and that it was one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

After a few minutes we heard, then saw, an aircraft heading towards us from over the river. The engines seemed to be roaring and we speculated for a moment that it might be some sort of rescue plane. I focused my camera on the second tower thinking that I might get a dramatic rescue photo as the plane passed by. However, we watched with horror as it crashed straight into the tower and exploded with a huge fireball - I took a photo instinctively, without registering what we had just witnessed. We were all very shocked and upset by what had happened, and could not really believe our eyes - as people commented later "it was just like watching a movie".

Not knowing what to do, we made our way into Clinton Castle, the ticket area for the ferry trips, where a small group of people had gathered, all as shocked as we were. It was here that we confirmed that it was the WTC that had been hit and that it was presumed to have been an act of terrorism. Within a few minutes the security officers announced that they were shutting the Castle and wanted people to leave as quickly as possible - we immediately feared that there might be further attacks and began to feel quite nervous.

The sound of sirens filled the air as we made our way back through the park. By this time both buildings were burning fiercely, so we thought that the safest place to go was to the ferry piers at the southern tip of Manhattan. Other people were starting to congregate there and, after looking at our map, thought that we might be able to get around the Lower East Side of Manhattan in an attempt to get back to our hotel. People all around us were wandering about in disbelief - many were in tears.

As we were deciding what to do, we saw a crowd of people running towards us, away from the towers, shouting that they were collapsing. As they ran towards us they were followed by a huge cloud of smoke and dust which engulfed us all - we had no idea what was happening and were extremely frightened. Ann, Helen and I ran to the water's edge thinking that if the waterfront buildings started to collapse we would jump into the water (probably not the wisest idea, in retrospect).

After a few minutes a hospital ship moored at the pier started handing out surgical masks to make breathing easier in the dust-filled smoke, which some people speculated, contained asbestos. Some of the ferry boats then started to announce that they would evacuate people to New Jersey and we joined a line to get on one of the first boats - despite people's obvious shock and horror, there was an air of subdued calm as we all walked down the gangway. Some of the people on the ferry were coated in a thick layer of white dust and must have had very lucky escapes. From the Hudson River looking back to South Manhattan it appeared as if the whole Financial District was on fire with a huge cloud of smoke hanging over the city.

On arriving at Hoboken we decided to walk north up the east coast in the hope that we could get back to Mid Manhattan, but as we watched the television news reports when we stopped for a drink in one of the crowded bars, we learned of the attacks on the Pentagon and Philadelphia and realized the enormity of the tragedy. All the bridges and ferries were reported to be closed. It was a hot day and as we walked we heard the roar of US fighter aircraft as the began to patrol the skies above us - we began to wonder if this was the start of World War III. In the early afternoon we reached Weehawken and made our way to the ferry pier, hoping that it might be operating. It wasn't and a crowd of other 'displaced' people sat waiting in the hope that the ferries would be reopened. We tried to call our family in the UK but couldn't get a phone line to work.

In the early evening the police informed us that we could not get back to Manhattan and that the Weehawken High School would provide food and beds for the night in their basketball hall - about 40 people were taken to the school by bus. Parents and kids from the school made us as comfortable as possible and organized snacks and drinks, and later the Red Cross arrived with more food, drinks, washing kits and camp beds. We all looked like refugees, but were just thankful to be safe and grateful for the kindness of our hosts. We kept trying to phone home, but couldn't get a connection until about midnight when Helen managed to get a call through to one of her friends in London and asked him to let our family and friends know that we were safe.

It had certainly been one of the longest days I can recall, and a day that we will never forget. After an evening of watching the news on a television placed in the middle of the hall, punctuated by TV news crews arriving to interview us, we managed to get a few hours of sleep before more food arrived, courtesy of the American Red Cross, early in the morning of Wednesday 12th. A police officer, who had been stationed with us during the night, told us that it was possible that the Weehawken ferry would reopen soon and after a hasty wash we made our way to the jetty. Within a short time a ferry boat arrived and we boarded it, bound for Mid Manhattan and a fairly long walk to our hotel.

It was a great relief to get back to our belongings and to be able to contact our relatives and friends. By then the enormity of the tragedy was beginning to unfold in news reports and we couldn't believe that so many people had died in such a terrible way, and particularly so many gallant firefighters who lost their lives while trying to save others. It is an event we will never forget and my photographs are a dramatic reminder of witnessing a moment in history that changed world events.