Tragic calls from twin towers

Calls poured in from the World Trade Center

The following excerpts are from the log of the dispatcher for the US Fire Department's Emergency Management Service and were published in New York's Daily News newspaper.

The entries start at 0847 local time with the words "BLDG EXPLOSION" and are followed by a flurry of emergency calls from the World Trade Center.

Abbreviations in messages are as follows: MC stands for male caller, FC for female caller, STS for "states", or says.

10:00:34 WORLD TRADE CENTER HAS COLLAPSED

08:50:12 MC STS PLANE JUST FLEW INTO WORL TRADE CENTER---POSS COMMERCIAL AIRPLANE.

Then calls begin pouring in from One World Trade Center.

08:56:44 MC STS HE IS ON THE 87 FLR--STS 4 PERSON THERE W HIM--STS THERE IS FIRE.

08:57:26 PEOPLE SCREAMING IN BACKGROUND--STS CANNOT BREATHE---POSS SMOKE COMING THRU DOOR--FLR 103...TRAPPED.

09:04:50 MC--STS 103 FLR-CAN'T GET OUT--FIRE ON FLR...PEOPLE GETTING SICK

A report from the police aviation unit comes in, saying people are falling from the building.

Second plane

Then the second plane hits the World Trade Center.

09:07:51 SECOND PLANE HIT THE SECOND BUILDING ... UNK EXTENT OF INJ.

The first calls come in from the second building.

09:09:21 MC STATES 2WTC---PEOPLE ARE JUMPING OUT OF THE SIDE OF A LRG HOLE---POSS NO ONE CATCHING THEM.

09:12:18 MC STS ON 106 FLR ABOUT 100 PEOPLE IN ROOM--NEED DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO STAY ALIVE.

09:17:39 MC STS ON 105 FLR...STAIRS COLLAPSE

10:33:42 ENTIRE TOWER DOWN

09:36:33 FC STS THEY ARE STUCK THEY ARE STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR...STS THEY ARE DYING.

09:47:15 FC STS 2 WORLD TRADE CENTER---FLR105---STS FLOOR UNDERNEATH HER---COLLAPSE.

09:49:21 1 WORLD TRADE CTR...20 PEOPLE ON THE TOP WAVING...THEY ARE ALIVE PLEASE SEND HELP.

10:00:45 WORLD TRADE CENTER HAS COLLAPSED.

Suddenly all calls from that building end. Calls from the north tower continue.

10:12:35 MC STS HE CAN BARELY BREATHE...105TH FLR

The calls end abruptly at 10:33:42 on a horrifying final note: "ENTIRE TOWER DOWN."