wfn.org | Report from Trinity Episcopal Church near World Trade Center

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

ACNS 2631 - ENS - 12 September 2001

Eyewitness to disaster

by John Allen

[ENS 2001-238] When the first aircraft hit New York's World Trade Center
during the morning rush-hour on Tuesday September 11, young children were
arriving at Trinity Wall Street's pre-school, staff were on the streets
around the center, and Archbishop Rowan Williams of Wales was preparing for
a day's videotaping with Trinity Television.

The Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews, rector of the Parish of Trinity Church, and
a group of colleagues were in a meeting in the parish's office tower three
blocks from the center.

"We were on the 24th floor, which has a view of the World Trade Center, when
we heard the sound, and looked up to see a ball of fire coming from one of
the towers. A few minutes later, we saw the second plane hit, and again a
ball of fire erupted," he said. He was soon down in the building's lobby,
reassuring shocked staffers as security staff sought guidance on the safest
response.

Before the first blast, staff on the streets around Trinity heard what to
some sounded like military jets carrying out a low flypast before hearing
the blast. Within minutes, pieces of paper were raining from the sky onto
the church, the churchyard and the surrounding streets.

In Trinity Television's studio a small group of shocked visitors gathered as
Trinity's director of television, Bert Medley, asked Archbishop Williams to
lead the group in prayer.

The Rev. Gay Silver went to minister to the teachers and pupils at the
pre-school. The Rev. Lyndon Harris, who heads the ministry at historic St.
Paul's Chapel across the street from the World Trade Center, set out for the
chapel to see how he could help there. Before he arrived, the second
aircraft hit the center and he was forced to return to Trinity to avoid
flying debris.

The Rev. Stuart Hoke, executive assistant to Dr. Matthews, was among those
in the church leading prayers and hymns for shocked passers-by some time
later when a tower at the WTC collapsed. The power was cut and much of the
congregation fled screaming into Broadway. Trinity's office tower shuddered
and dust began to penetrate the building down lift shafts from the top.

Staff who tried to leave the building found the lobby filled with dust, and
were forced to return to upper floors to breathe. Outside, the pall of dust
that had settled over the financial district with the tower's collapse had
made it dark as night.

Staff designated as fire wardens gathered at the pre-school to evacuate the
children to the basement. Other staff searched the building, looking for
places which were both as low down in the building and as dust-free as
possible. Once breathing masks had all been handed out, towels in the
pre-school were torn up and soaked in water for people to breathe through.

When the order to evacuate the office block came, Trinity staffers and
pre-school children filed out under the direction of security staff and fire
wardens. They streamed down Greenwich Street at the back of the building,
heading through the gloom and holding masks or towels to the their faces, to
the south end of the island of Manhattan. When they heard the sounds of
another collapse from the World Trade Center, they dashed for cover in
doorways and under alcoves.

Numbers boarded the Staten Island ferry across New York harbor to escape the
downtown area, and others were evacuated by buses up the east side. As at
the time of writing, there was no way of knowing the fate of friends and
colleagues.

[John Allen is communications director for Trinity Parish, Wall Street and
editor of Trinity News]

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