Echoes from 9/11

New York City

In a chilling reminder of the horrors of Sept. 11, New York City this week released partial recordings of 130 desperate calls to 911 made after planes struck the World Trade Center. The 11 compact discs contained only the emergency dispatchers’ side of the conversations, not the voices of the callers inside the burning towers. But they confirm the findings of the 9/11 Commission that rescue attempts were hindered by poor communication among city agencies. Although the police and fire departments ordered an evacuation of the towers 10 minutes after the first plane hit, only two of the 130 callers were told to get out. On one recording, an operator argues with a man who wants to walk down from the 88th floor of the south tower. “You cannot,” she says. “You have to wait until somebody comes there.”

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