http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2001/day_of_terror/eyewitness/7.stmOn Tuesday morning at 8:46 PM, I was in 2 World Trade Center on the 64th floor, where I used to report to work for Morgan Stanley. I was sitting at my computer reading the BBC on the internet about the problems in Israel, when
I heard an explosion.I remember that I thought that it was a bad explosion because I heard the back up generator kick in within seconds of the initial impact. I jumped up and ran to one of the unoccupied offices that had a window and looked out to see large amounts of debris (papers, metal, all kinds of things!) floating down towards the street.
I ran back into my office and called my boss on his cell phone and told him, "Don't come in here there was an explosion and we are beginning to evacuate!" and I hung up the phone and ran back out into the hallway. At that moment someone called out to me, “Is there any one down there!" ,"Yes", I said and he yelled at me to, “get my ass” into the stairwell because we were evacuating. I did as told.
At that time people were still very calm and were evacuating in an orderly fashion. It was business as usual and occasionally the lines would slow down because people were fooling around and bullshitting on the stair well.
'The building began to sink'
We had reached either the 51st or the 50th floor when we heard a huge explosion, which shook the building like crazy! I grabbed hold of the stairwell to steady myself when a women who had fallen from a flight up hit me in the back and sent me down a flight of stairs with her on my back.
I then tried to stand up but the building was still shaking and the lights were flickering on and off. It was terrifying!
Then the building began to sink. That’s the only way I can describe it. The floor began to lower under my feet and all I could think about was that it would crack open and I would fall hundreds of feet to my death!
Everyone thought it was only taking place in 1 WTC the other tower. Not in our tower. Once this happened it turned into pandemonium! People began screaming and crying and praying out loud for God to help them. I remember that I began to pray once the floor gave out. Asking God to just let the building stop shaking long enough for me to get out.
After what seemed like an eternity the building settled and the evacuation began in earnest. Except people were panicking and a stampede started and they were running each other down. Myself and the Philippine women who had landed on me and a few people that I remember from my floor pushed up against the wall and waited for the initial surge of people to subside and then we began to move out again.
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Why were explosions heard at the 51st or 50th floor? Why was the floor sinking in the space of time this guy left his office and made it down 14 flights?