It was a day which will live in infamy - Sept. 11, 2001, the day hijackers sent four airliners to devastating crashes into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the woods of rural Pennsylvania. It was a day of terror and fear, courage and heroism. Nadur, having hundreds of its people residing in New York, watched in horror and prayed. Today, four years afterwards, we still remember...

by Pierre J. Mejlak / MaltaMedia

The Nadurin in New York lived the experience. David Camilleri was one of the volunteers in the rescue operation at Ground Zero. This is what Camilleri remembers:

"On Black Tuesday night, 11th of September, I volunteered at the trauma center in the Chelsea Piers. Me and others were briefed about the triage process and told that they were expecting 20,000 people who would be seeking help by early the following morning. I went home to sleep and by 7:00 am I returned back to help. I did not know what to expect on my way there, a handful of volunteers were waiting around. The only work that was available for us was to carry food and water and helping with collecting the donated clothing. By noon thousands of people gathered to volunteer and we were organized in different groups. I registered as a search and rescue/construction worker. All the volunteers were desperate to do some work but we were told to wait as there is not much one can do.

The few injured persons that arrived were treated by professional nurses and doctors. Everyone wanted to go to ground zero. I wished to go there myself, more out of curiosity than to help. I knew from what I saw on TV that there was not much one can do. Luckily my chance came at 2:30 pm, when I saw 4 construction workers from my group walking out to the street I just joined them and the leader counted me in. When we arrived at Ground Zero I was astonished of what I encountered, what used to be such a beautiful colorful area near Battery Park City has been transformed into a gray atmosphere of dust and havoc. Words are hard to come by to describe this debacle. Instead of the buildings there were these 7 stories high jumble of steel. Hundreds of firemen where whiling around looking very helpless, sad and tired. The only workers active where the operators of the heavy machinery the rest where waiting to be called for action.

I managed to help a bit by replenishing the firemen and other persons with dust masks to protect themselves from the contamination of asbestos and other dust fibers. I spent 5 hours at ground zero. Soon I got a headache from breathing the toxic smoke and listening to the deafening sound of the heavy machinery. I left the area tired and in a state of numbness as if waking up from a bad dream."

Another Nadur emigrant in New York, 48-year-old Peter Attard,  witnessed the collapse of the WTC from the window of his Astoria home, a few miles from downtone Manhattan:

"I first became aware of the horrific and barbaric attack on the WTC on September 11 when I switched on the computer and read a post from J&T (member of our discussion group on gozo.com) that the Twin Towers were on fire. As I looked out from my fifth floor apartment window I could clearly see what he was describing. Incredulous enough I had seen the smoke a little earlier but for some reason ignored it thinking it was smoke from some nearby chimney, which is not uncommon.

Immediately I switched on the TV and sure enough the tragedy was being broadcast live, needless to say I was stunned and dumbfounded at what I was witnessing, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So now I was watching this horrible unimaginable event both on TV and out my window since I have a clear view of the New York skyline. The thought that kept running through my mind was of those poor souls trapped in those towering skyscrapers.

The television made it possible to get a closer look at the horrible scene as the camera occasionally focused closer into the burning towers. And it was at such a moment that I really sensed that something really disastrous was about to happen when a cloud of debris and dust started forming from one of the towers and rushed downwards. My God the Tower was collapsing!! I rushed to the window and saw one of the towers collapsing. 

A huge cloud of dust immediately started swelling engulfing the city skyline. Clouds of white dust were rising from the ground up from between individual buildings mushrooming and swallowing up the city, until the city was completely obscured in a cloud of dust, which kept mushrooming. It was frightening and unbelievable it reminded me of vision of apocalypse. For a brief moment one didn't know what was going to happen next or what happened to the city since it became completely invisible in a cloud of dust.

I called my brother who lives near La Guardia Airport to inform him what is happening. An hour or two must have passed since this nightmare had started when I realized I had better call my sister in Gozo to inform her that I was OK. Since I was sure that she would be aware of the news and concerned for my well being. When I reached my sister she was in great distress, and broke down in tears. Much relieved in hearing my voice, she had been frantically trying to contact my brother and myself.

She told me, our relatives from Australia were trying to reach us but couldn't get through. Eventually we related our message to all our relatives that thank God we were safe and sound."

Another Naduri, John Sammut, was yet closer to the WTC. Sammut works at One Wall Street, just four blocks away from where the twin towers of the WTC once stood. This is what he recounts:

"I was finishing breakfast at my office at about 8:48 AM when I heard a tremendous explosion like band...my coffee cup and the floor under my chair shook. I immediately jumped up out of concern and within a moment or two, I saw my coworkers running to the outside windows facing northwest and in full view of the World Trade Center. Then a lady in my office screamed out that an airplane hit the north tower (#1) and that the top was on fire. I ran to a window where I had full view of the "twins" and as I staring in full dismay and wondering whether it was an accident or a deliberate act. I Then, approximately 15 minutes later, I saw the second plane coming at an accelerated speed towards the south tower (#2). This plane went straight into the tower, collided and completely penetrated the structure of the tower. Seconds later, a massive, fiery and most horrific explosion burst out of approximately seven floors of the tower.

The bank I work for is four blocks diagonally across (or south east) from the South tower. All employees were evacuated and left the building within 45 minutes from the last explosion. Additionally, the entire Wall Street and Financial Districts were also evacuated at the order of Mayor of New York City. There was mass exodus of people using the roads leading north and east. Nearby highways were packed with evacuees. Additionally numerous boats came to the docks at downtown (Wall Street) and loaded hundreds of evacuees and took them across to the Borough of Queens and Brooklyn as well as New Jersey.

I decided to head northward on Broadway to get to alternate means of transportation and get out of New York City. Being that I like to capture special or unique moments on photographs, I bought a disposable camera from a nearby newsstand to record the state of the 'Twin Towers' as the enemy mortally wounded them. Then I started walking north. I saw thousands of pieces of paper, which were blasted out from the towers by the two respective explosions. Additionally, I saw several shoes, which became projectiles following the explosions, strewn about on the street. I observed hundreds of spectators lining the east side of Broadway looking at the "Twins" in awe and pointing their fingers while making comments.

I had walked up two city blocks and was now under the shadow of the south tower with the Merrill Lynch Plaza on one side and the Marine Midland "Red Block" on the other. I paused for a moment to observe and digest what was going on around me and snapped a picture of the 'Twins' burning. Then, I heard the outcry of dismay from the crowd around me and when I looked up in the direction they were looking, I saw a person who had jumped the north tower coming down to his death. I am told that many other individuals ended their life that way to avoid burning alive. Like most other people, I did not expect the collapse of the Towers.

At this point, I was only one and a half blocks from the 'Twins' when the South tower started collapsing. I, like many others, was trapped by a lot of debris, smoke, ashes and all sorts of debris. The force of the debris (threw) me against a nearby building and then I was pinned there by debris and other people. I had to pull my shirt to use as an air filter and breath through it. The cloud of debris, which was higher than the World trade Center Towers, darkened the area as though it was the middle of the night... this lasted for about 50 min. When the cloud dissipated, I looked around me and saw shoes, briefcases, pocketbooks and other belongings from victims who were in the South tower. However, the most disheartening site was when I saw human body parts in the midst of the debris.

My lungs were partially collapsed from all the Debris I inhaled and my eyes had various lacerations as well. I returned from the hospital yesterday.

The disaster for horrific and my emotions are drained from it all.

I am glad I am alive."

David Camilleri, Peter Attard and John Sammut were speaking to MaltaMedia in New York.