Twenty years on from the 9/11 terror attacks, a Kiwi journalist has recalled the "terrible" and "evil" day.
A journalist by trade, Rae Lamb reported on what she saw from a phone box — office papers flying around and piles of shoes lying in the street after the attacks on the World Trade Centre.
Heading down Midtown, she was passed by people coming up the island who were "stressed" and in a "bad state".
"What we were witnessing was something that no one would have ever thought would happen and it was something that was really terrible and evil."
By the time Lamb reached ground zero, it was clear there were few survivors.
"They were starting to bring heavy machinery in.
"It was really clear that anyone who was going to get out had got out and an awful lot of people hadn't."
Although she has been back to New York three times since the attacks, there is one place she won't return to — ground zero.
"It’s a gravesite."
The 9/11 terror attacks claimed the lives of 2977 people. The death toll includes those killed at The Pentagon and on Flight 93.
"People have said to me that must have been the story of a lifetime, but it’s never felt like that, because it’s just so horrible. There were so many people that died that day," Lamb said.
"Things can change on a dime. Something happens and the whole world turns upside down in a moment."
SHARE ME