7NEWS former US correspondent Mike Amor has shared his harrowing firsthand account of the September 11 attacks, revealing how he witnessed the terror unfold from the streets of Manhattan 25 years ago.
Amor was in a taxi in Manhattan when the first tower was hit, travelling through a tunnel off Manhattan Island when the attacks began.
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“We went into a tunnel off Manhattan Island and when we came out the other end, the whole world had changed,” Amor recalled.
Looking through the back window of his taxi, Amor captured his first glimpse of the devastation.
“I looked in through the back of the taxi window and framed it almost perfectly. There was the first tower with a gaping hole in it on fire,” he said.
Mike Amor was Seven’s US correspondent at the time. Credit: 7NEWS Amor was in a taxi when the first tower was hit. Credit: 7NEWS The attack occurred 25 years ago. Credit: 7NEWS The coordinated attack targeted the twin symbols of US economic and military power, with glass and flames exploding from the World Trade Centre.
By the time Amor arrived at the scene, the second tower had already collapsed.
“When we first got there, it was just after the second tower had come down and there’s this plume of dust and ash of where the towers had been,” he said.
The veteran journalist then witnessed survivors emerging from the devastation.
“And then all of a sudden we started seeing people caked in ash and dust coming up towards us with just this look of horror and shock on their face,” Amor said.
One encounter particularly haunted him – a desperate woman clutching a photograph.
“It was that first person that came up to us with that photo. You could just see the look of desperation in her eyes. She was just pleading with us. Have you seen him? I didn’t even know what to say. What do you say to a person like that who’s that desperate?”
Amor witnessed survivors emerging from the destruction. Credit: 7NEWS People were caked in ash and dust, Amor recalls. Credit: 7NEWS One encounter haunted him. Credit: 7NEWS Amor immediately recognised the magnitude of what was unfolding.
“I knew immediately this was a world changing event,” he said.
Reflecting on the day’s significance, Amor drew parallels to another defining moment in American history.
“I always say this was the equivalent of Pearl Harbour, except Americans watched it live on air,” he said.
“I don’t fully think that Australians understand how big a moment it was in American history.”