11S | September 11 | 11 Gallery | 20 years | Photographer of the iconic image of the "Fallen Man" of September 11: "I will never forget the sound of the impact of the earth against the bodies" | USA | New York | World Trade Center | Osama bin Laden | Al Qaeda

Twenty years have passed since the attack on the Twin Towers and Richard Drew. “The fallen man”(“ The Falling Man ”), he could not remember what was the sequence of twelve shots captured in the ten seconds that the fall lasted, as his camera did not record the detail.

See | The story behind the portrait of a man who fell from one of the Twin Towers after the 9/11 attacks

“I was a block from the north tower and could not see where they were falling. But I will never forget the noise when bodies hit the ground”Drew mentioned in a zoom interview Nation From New York, he continues to work for the Associated Press (AP).

Although many years have passed, Drew has not been able to find the exact words to define that dry noise, which bothers him. “My wife says I use my camera as a filter to hide what I’m feeling”, He agrees.

Of the 2,600 victims of the North and South Tower falls, forensic officials did not differentiate between those who died as a result of the crash and those who jumped from buildings, but video and photo recordings estimate The number of people jumping out of the windows ranged from 100 to 200. Most came from the North Tower, and at 8:46 a.m. an American Airlines plane crashed between the 94th and 98th floors.

Meanwhile, a United Airlines flight crashed into the south tower between the 78th and 84th floors at 9:02 p.m.

That 16-minute break gave time for more evacuation in the South Tower, which also collapsed half an hour earlier. The first tower had an impact of about twenty floors, with smoke and fire piling up in what remained above the 110th floor, and Definitely raised the sense of death of the victims.

“The most confusing thing when people look at a photo is not the image of the falling man, That it is not violent; No blood or mutilated bodies could be seen. The confusing thing is to think about what one would do in such a situation The only possible decision is to choose how to die, Because there are no survivors above the impact of the planes, ”Drew said.

Drew turned 54, then, on the morning of September 11, after the AP presented him with a photo gallery of a pregnant women’s fashion show at Bryant Park, four miles from the Twin Towers. After the first impact, he got a call from the agency Go to the World Trade Center. He took the tunnel to Chambers Street Station, about 400 meters from the towers, and then walked a hundred meters, where he saw two buildings already on fire.

I was standing next to a New York City police officer and nurse. Suddenly the woman said: ‘God, look at that!’, The three of us looked up and saw people falling from the building. Intuitively I picked up my camera and started filming as I heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Drew remembered.

Due to the high number of victims, it is not possible to identify them accurately “The Fallen Man” From 12 photos taken during Drew His jump took place at 9.41am, 47 minutes before the tower collapsed. Because of his clothes, it is speculated that he may be a cook Norberto HernandezWho worked as a windows or the world or sound engineer on the 106th floor Jonathan Brill, Who did the work there. But nothing is certain. Paradoxically, the two names, Hernandez and Braille, appear together in the fountain, which is remembered by thousands of victims there today.

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A closure

Drew remembered Nation Another story that helped reconstruct thanks to the various photos of people jumping from the towers. In 2006, he contacted AB company Richard Becorella, who worked with his 52-year-old girlfriend Karen Jude on the 101st floor. Pecorella looked at some pictures He was able to identify his girlfriend among the people waving handkerchiefs from the windows of the north tower. And he was curious to know how he died, so he asked Drew to look at pictures of the jumpers.

Pecorella looks at a photo of Karen jumping with Richard Drew

“Pecorella came to our company with an accurate description of the clothes her girlfriend wore that day, from photos of her waving her handkerchief and leaning out the window. After looking at several pictures, we finally saw Karan’s photo among the jumping crowd. It was very shocking, but it allowed him to close the story. “

Finally Drew reflects on the impact of his iconic photo. “Until I returned to the agency in the morning, I did not realize the recorded images. I think it was symmetrical. The man who falls With the lines of the building, and even the obvious ones Peace and resignation With that it falls. It is almost a picture of harmony. What is not seen is what gives the photo play. It is an instantaneous record in a person’s life. But anyone who has seen the film knows that, unfortunately, it was his last moment”.

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