Brit photographer’s harrowing 9/11 photos capture terrifying aftermath of attack as dust-covered victims drag themselves from Twin Tower wreckage 16 years ago today
THESE eerie photos show the immediate and terrifying aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks which shocked the planet and cost nearly 3,000 lives.
They were taken by a young British photographer working and living in New York but little did he know then the affect that day would have on him and the rest of the world.
On the morning of September 11th 2001, Phil Penman was asleep at his home when his work mobile rang.
It was his first day off working for Splash News in months and he admits he didn't even pick it up.
Luckily he quickly listened to his answer machine.
He said: "It was a Splash reporter who said: 'Phil a plane has flown into one of the World Trade Center towers, you might want to check it out.'
"I jumped out of bed threw on whatever T-shirt and pants I could find, grabbed my camera bag and jumped on my bicycle and cycled like a man possessed to get to the towers as quickly as possible.
"My main goal was to get below the towers as I knew it would not be long before the police roped everything off with tape and I would not get near.
"It was a real mix of businessmen in suits, tourists, construction workers, and local store clerks staring up at the towers.
"Some people were screaming, others with their hands over their eyes struck in disbelief of what was unfolding before them.
"I could hear loud screams as people were jumping from the top of the building.
"All of a sudden I could hear a loud noise and the building was collapsing in front of my very eyes. I clicked away just watching the tower come down further and further as the large beams from the towers got bigger and bigger in my camera.
Phil said then everything went completely black and he headed inside the relative safety of a nearby store.
"A man runs in screaming “F***! I made it” he was covered head to toe in debris. A policeman gives him a bottle of water. The man looks possessed as he had literally just ran for his life," revealed the lensman.
"I go up to the guy and say do you mind if I take a couple of pictures. He says 'go ahead Kid!'
"I pulled my camera up to take a picture of a woman being helped by what looked like a traffic warden.
"They were both covered head to toe and she was crying. I questioned myself, could I do this? Take pictures of people at their weakest moment."
The Dorset-born photographer said up until that day the had mainly taken photos of celebrities.
"All of a sudden firemen were running up the street towards me. 'Run! The second one is about to come down,'" he said.
"The phone rings again. Its my boss Kevin who is in Los Angeles. He says, 'I know you do not want to leave the site, but you have to get back to the office to send as the papers were waiting.'”
"I started to look for my bike but it was gone. I had no way to get it so I started to run. I continued to run with my camera round my neck, covered in debris with a face mask covering me."
Even after filing his chilling pictures it was clearly not the end of the story for Phil.
"The years after were some of the most painful. For a year straight I was having to photograph funerals, features with people who had lost loved ones, and anything related to the ongoing story," he said.
"I have since connected with a lot of the people I photographed that day and we stay in touch and reach out to see how we are all doing every year.
"I still break down from time to time every time I think about that day and do not believe I will ever truly understand or realise the size and magnitude of what happened.
"If the buildings had come down any other way I would be dead. That’s a strange thing to wrap your head around."