Yorkshire survivor recalls epicentre of 9/11 collapse and its lasting toll

Paul Berriff, an 80-year-old documentary filmmaker and photographer now residing near Northallerton in North Yorkshire, has shared his harrowing experience of being in the epicentre of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Decades later, he is grappling with the severe long-term health consequences caused by inhaling toxic debris.

Berriff was working in New York City on that morning when he learned that a plane had struck one of the Twin Towers. After contacting his wife in Lower Manhattan, who reported seeing emergency vehicles and chaos, his instincts as a journalist compelled him to head to the scene to film the unfolding events.

Upon approaching the site, Berriff and his sound recordist, Lulu, witnessed both towers engulfed in flames. They observed figures descending from the buildings, confirming the gravity of the situation. At the base, they encountered Assistant Fire Commissioner Steve Gregory directing operations.

Recalling the moment the South Tower fell, Berriff described hearing a loud explosion to his left and turning his camera to film the top of the structure peeling away like an “open umbrella.” As firefighters urged everyone to flee, Berriff remained behind his lens for approximately two seconds, watching “250,000 tonnes of metal and girders” rush toward him before he and Lulu began running.

His camera slipped from his hand, and he lost consciousness for roughly 35 minutes while the second tower collapsed. When he awoke, he was buried under rubble, struggling to breathe through cement dust with his clothes burning. Crawling through total darkness, he emerged into a landscape he compared to volcanic ash, which had lost all colour.

Realizing he was separated from Lulu, Berriff returned to the debris field to locate her. Fortunately, she had been guided to safety by a fire officer in an underground garage. Berriff retrieved his camera and found her safely, though he discovered he had sustained injuries, with blood covering his back.

After being decontaminated at a hospital due to fears of chemical agents like anthrax, Berriff stayed with a nurse whose husband provided him with clothing. Reviewing the footage from his camera, he preserved a visual record of the devastation he had survived. Authorities later noted that he was likely the first living person found in the direct impact zone.

Now, 25 years after the attacks, Berriff faces a terminal diagnosis. Three years ago, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and given a prognosis of five years to live. He highlighted that he and his colleagues inhaled a cloud containing body parts, glass, and aviation fuel, with the damage remaining dormant for two decades before manifesting as fatal diseases.

Outside of his recording career, Berriff is a noted philanthropist, having founded the Humber Rescue lifeboat charity in his garden in 1989 and establishing a lifeboat station on the Humber bank in 1995. He was appointed OBE in 2016 for his charitable work.

Reflecting on his survival, Berriff expressed gratitude for having lived. “I’m so lucky,” he said, noting that those who ran in different directions did not survive. “I survived the epicentre of 9/11… I shouldn’t have [done].”