Man released 9/11 footage after 23 years from 'unseen angle' after recording from his apartment
Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing.
A man filmed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre collapsing on 9/11, and it took him more than two decades to release the harrowing, never-before-seen footage.
Kei Sugimoto witnessed the horror of the 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attack from the rooftop of 64 St Marks Place in New York City almost 25 years ago, and recorded the devastating aftermath of the two planes being flown into the skyscrapers.
The six-minute video shows the sheer destruction caused, as the two towers collapse within moments of one another, leading to the deaths of 2,753 people.
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"I had just assumed it was an accident and there was a fire," he recalled in an exclusive interview with LADbible.
"I did see the second plane impact, and that's when I thought, 'Okay, for sure, this is not just an accident. This is intentional. It's a terrorist attack'."
The video from the 'unseen angle' was only released in 2024, 23 years after the attack.
Sugimoto's video ended up going viral after it was posted on YouTube, with users claiming it shows 'new angles of the collapse'.
"This footage offers a unique perspective not seen from the south or east," one wrote. "You are watching these angles for the first time ever."
Taken on a Sony VX2000 with teleconverter by the then-24-year-old, the harrowing clip shows black smoke billowing out from the towers before they eventually collapse.
Over on Reddit, one viewer pointed out: "It’s crazy that we’re still getting new footage."
Meanwhile, somebody else noted: "Makes me wonder how much history is being stored in people’s attics or basements waiting to be unearthed."
Watch his footage here:
In the YouTube comments, Sugimoto explained his decision to release the footage after so long.
"I was cleaning my closet and found boxes full of Hi-8, Digital-8, and DV tapes," he wrote. "When trying to play them back I noticed that maybe about a 3rd of them had demagnetized over time and were either blank, or suffering from major data corruption.
"After researching online I learned that video tapes are not immune from age even when stored in ideal conditions, so I franntially started to digitize them. Thus I'm just uploading the video now."
Sugimoto went on to mention that while he did witness the second plane crash, he didn’t film it.
"If I remember correctly, I think I ran to get my video camera after seeing the second plane crash sensing that this was no ordinary accident," he added.
Users thanked him for sharing the ‘unique perspective’ and called the ‘crystal clear’ footage ‘devastating’.
With the 25 year anniversary fast approaching, news emerged recently of a new victim being identified over two decades on.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) made the announcement on 24 August, stating that a previously unknown victim has been identified in a major breakthrough.
Using forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG), an adult woman has been identified - though her name has been kept private at the request of her family.
She has become the 1,654th victim identified from the devastating terrorist attacks, which killed 2,753 people in total.
Dan Seddon