'Then the second one hit and all of a sudden, it dawns on me.. this is a terrorist attack' - witness

Eileen Duggan will never forget the sombre atmosphere that came over New York city after the 9/11 terrorist attacks - 25 years ago today.

Her work day in New York began as any other - determined faces racing to work among millions of others, engines roaring and horns beeping, and eventually, a sigh of relief upon making it to the office. Living in New York since 1984, September 11, 2001, was Eileen’s first day back at the office after a trip home to Ireland.

An accountant at Morgan Stanley at the time, Eileen was sorting through numbers on her screen when news spread around the office that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre’s North Tower, which was home to a second Morgan Stanley office.

Working on the upper floors of the midtown office, Eileen had a clear view of a plane “sticking out” of the tower.

“I was standing at the very large window looking at the first tower that was hit,” she recalled.

Talk in the office was of an “absolute” tragic accident.

From their vantage point, “it made perfect sense” that a plane had accidentally hit the tower. A freak accident had occurred, or so they thought.

What they and many others didn’t know at the time was that five hijackers had crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into floors 93-99 of the North Tower, and that crew members, passengers and the hundreds of people inside the building had been killed instantly.

Beneath them, first responders mobilised.

“We had a direct view of the World Trade Centre.. I was looking at the first plane and then the second one hit and, all of a sudden, it dawns on me, this is a terrorist attack.”

At 9:03am five hijackers struck floors 77-85 of the South Tower, killing crew members, passengers and people inside the building.

“It doesn’t happen here,” was what Eileen remembers thinking.

“They started getting people out of the tall buildings, they didn’t know if there was another plane coming.

“’Get down to lower level, be careful and get home’,” Eileen remembered being told.

She recalled feeling grateful that she had brought flat shoes with her, and walking home on what was a very hot day.

Lorry drivers offered to bring people out of the city and, when they pulled up, people jumped off to let others, who were more in need, on board.

As she neared the 59th street bridge, shop keepers were offering bottles of water to those walking and were “not asking for payment”.

“Everybody was walking together, it was silent. Everybody was trying to get their phones to work but nobody’s phones were working as the cell towers were down.

“Nobody was saying anything, they didn’t know what to say.”

The Ballyhaise native said there was a sense of “disbelief” across the city.

“It just didn’t sink in, the enormity of what happened. It wasn’t until everybody got home and got their TVs turned on that they started seeing the body’s falling and the planes crashing in. If you were not actually down there at Ground Zero, I think it took at least 12 if not 24 hours for the realisation of what had actually happened to dawn on you.”

While calls for essential personnel went out to help search for survivors, Eileen remembered feeling like there was nothing she could do to help.

“I remember thinking the least I can do is go to work the next day.

“I wasn’t afraid going into work but, every time I heard an aeroplane, I would jump out of my skin and I think everybody was like that.”

The mood in the office was sombre, and nobody was speaking.

“Morgan Stanley was trying to collect the names of those who had died in our company and I guess other firms were trying to do the same thing, and so many people were searching for their loved ones.”

Her friend’s fiancé was killed during the attack on the second tower; however, she didn’t know anybody else killed that day. Eileen’s friend Linda died in 2019 with “9/11 leukaemia”.

“There’s other people that have been dying from 9/11 related cancers. The death toll hasn’t stopped yet.”

Released this month, The World Trade Center 25-Year Health Impact Report details the latest findings on the long-term health effects of September 11, 2001. The report draws on 25 years of medical monitoring, treatment and research involving firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, officers, civilians, retirees and other Fire Department of the City of New York members who responded to the World Trade Center and participated in the rescue and recovery effort.

The report shows more than 10,000 members are living with a 9/11-related illness, while more than 4,000 members are certified for at least one mental health condition.

Search for survivors

Hugh Smith was one of those who helped in the search for survivors.

A carpenter by trade, the Killinkere native was working in a building close to the towers. He went out to the street when he was hit by falling debris, and made his way to the bottom of the Trade Centre towers to help, however police had pushed people back.

He was injured after the second attack, however still went back to help before being told to leave to tend to his injuries.

Hugh returned to assist with the search for survivors on Ground Zero, working on what was called ‘bucket duty’.

“This was basically gathering anything and everything that you can find that might be useful. You had everything from personal objects to body parts,” described Johann Farrelly from Cavan County Museum.

“They thought they might be looking for survivors but of course there was none after.”

Hugh then took on the role of health and safety during the clean-up efforts on Ground Zero for the remaining nine months, and was present for the removal of the last standing piece of the tower in May 2002.

“Because of his exposure to the chemicals and the conditions that he worked under for those couple of months, he ended up suffering with bad health afterwards,” Johann outlined.

While visiting Ireland in 2013, Hugh donated mementos to the county museum. He passed away in April of last year.

Cavan event

A private commemorative event will take place this Friday, September 11, to honour Hugh’s work after the attacks.

The county museum will also install a permanent exhibit to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the attacks, and also to highlight Hugh’s role in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, Monaghan County Museum curator Liam Bradley said the museum’s Project Children Stories exhibition examines the events of September 11 through the experiences of Project Children co-founder and former NYPD officer Dennis Mulcahy, who was present during the collapse of the Twin Towers and later worked extensively at Ground Zero.

“While 9/11 is such an enormous global event, the exhibition brings it down to a very personal thing,” said Mr Bradley.

“You learn some of those very unique stories of some of the incredible people who gave so much. It’s a huge part of the exhibition and I would recommend anybody come along.”