A lot of people jumped, but I had not previously heard a number.
At my job, the day it happened, I was told to collect all the photographs I could find on the web that showed the buildings' failures and damage. There were quite a few good ones from early in the event, showing the ruptured envelope, the damaged beams, and the beginnings of the progressive collapse---signs of strain, leaning, etc. It was possible to find decent clear photos or clips of every stage of the event. The photographs also showed falling debris and falling people, the people upright, waving, moving. I'll never forget how people's legs bicycled when they jumped and fell. A strange reflex.
Later, we tried to get more photos. Couldn't find any. We believed they were suppressed out of respect to those falling people. I think that's OK. Those were their last living seconds. They can have that privacy. I didn't think of being ashamed of them. Jumping, that would be the harder, the braver choice. One last volition.
I have wondered how that realization---that rescue was impossible, that the building was going to kill them---came to those people. How did they choose? What did they know?
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-12 08:03 pm (UTC)At my job, the day it happened, I was told to collect all the photographs I could find on the web that showed the buildings' failures and damage. There were quite a few good ones from early in the event, showing the ruptured envelope, the damaged beams, and the beginnings of the progressive collapse---signs of strain, leaning, etc. It was possible to find decent clear photos or clips of every stage of the event. The photographs also showed falling debris and falling people, the people upright, waving, moving. I'll never forget how people's legs bicycled when they jumped and fell. A strange reflex.
Later, we tried to get more photos. Couldn't find any. We believed they were suppressed out of respect to those falling people. I think that's OK. Those were their last living seconds. They can have that privacy. I didn't think of being ashamed of them. Jumping, that would be the harder, the braver choice. One last volition.
I have wondered how that realization---that rescue was impossible, that the building was going to kill them---came to those people. How did they choose? What did they know?