Burgenland man recalls 9/11 attacks in New York

ORF Burgenland reported on Friday that Thomas Bauer from Zillingtal was in New York on holiday when the Islamist terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, killed almost 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others.

Within minutes, two hijacked passenger planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York. Another plane hit the Pentagon in Washington, DC, while a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

Bauer said the events initially felt surreal. He and a friend watched television screens in shop windows before looking towards the World Trade Center and seeing a cloud of smoke.

Although they were at the scene, Bauer said he and other people nearby did not immediately understand what was happening. Some people were still joking in the streets. When soldiers arrived to control intersections, one woman asked Bauer whether they were carrying real weapons.

As the day progressed, people increasingly realised what had happened, and New York became quieter and emptier. Bauer had visited the Twin Towers the evening before the attacks. “Only in hindsight do you realise that perhaps it was closer than you thought,” he said.