Horrifying footage shows moment firefighters had to watch 9/11 victims jump to their deaths
Video shot during the September 11 Attacks in New York shows the moment that firefighters watched helplessly as people fell from the skyscrapers.
The precise number of people who fell from the towers is not known due to their bodies being buried by the rubble when the towers collapsed, but estimates suggest between 50 and 200 people.
The short clip shows a group of firefighters wearing their full protective gear and standing at the base of the towers as fire rages above them.
Officers can be seen moving their gaze down, seemingly following someone as they fall from one of the towers, though the clip does not show this directly.
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One of the firefighters, a younger man, swears in disbelief as he watches, before a large crash is heard out of shot, leading him to throw his hands up in shock and despair.
Some are thought to have fallen due to fire and smoke, or while trying to climb down to a lower floor externally. Many are also thought to have decided that, faced with zero chance of escaping the towers, that they would take their final moments into their own hands.
Regardless of why people fell from the towers, including whether they did so of their own accord or not, the New York medical examiners office ruled that all deaths from the attacks were the result of homicide, and that people who chose to jump did so because they realised they had no chance of survival.
In total 2,977 people were killed in the attacks, including people on the planes, in the towers and the streets surrounding them, and at the Pentagon. Most of the civilians killed were in the towers above the points at which the aircraft struck them.
The resulting damage destroyed elevators, blocked stairways, and caused fires to erupt, trapping people in the towers.
Among the dead were 343 firefighters, who died trying to rescue people from the buildings, and many of whom were killed when the towers collapsed.
Many first responders have since developed long term illnesses as a result of the dust and debris that they were exposed to during the attacks.
Now, as New York City prepares to mark 25 years since the deadliest attack in its history, as well as the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil, the city's mayor Zohran Mamdani has paid tribute to all the people who came to the aid of the city and its people in whatever way they could, including firefighters who lost their lives.
Taking to social media, the NYC mayor said: "I was honored to meet with the firefighters of Squad 288 and HazMat Company 1.
"When the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, these two highly specialized units answered the call without hesitation. Nineteen members of this firehouse never came home.
"They gave their lives serving their fellow New Yorkers. Twenty-five years later, we remember their courage, their sacrifice and the families who have carried their memory forward.
"To the members of Squad 288, HazMat Company 1 and all of @fdny.bsky.social: thank you for the extraordinary work you do every day.
"New York will Never Forget."
Kit Roberts