Ny B5 Pa Employee Pasquale Buzzelli- Entire Contents- Press Reports- 1st Pgs Scanned For Reference- Fair Use 719

Miraculous tales emerge from rubble

Page 1 of 10

COURIERPOST ONLINE Home | Classifieds Careers | Cars | Real Estate | Communities ] About Us South Jersey | Nation&World | Sports | Business | Living | Entertainment | Technology | Opinion SOUTH JERSEY Cherry Hill Weather ipnmp Temp: 31 °F Hi: 36 °F Lo: 15 °F

Sunday, September 8, 2002

Atlantic City

By DENNIS CAUCHON and MARTHA T. MOORE Gannett News Service

Poconos

Metro Editor Donna Jenkins

Archives Brainstorm Community Guide Coupons Golf In Memoriam Lottery Results Obituaries Photo Galleries Recipes Special Reports Search Store Space.com Today & Tomorrow Varsity Weddings and Engagements Contact Us Contests Corrections News Tips Subscribe

Miraculous tales emerge from rubble The bodies of 2,803 human beings were buried when the World Trade Center crumbled into 3 billion pounds of debris. Miraculously, 20 people survived the collapse amid steel beams, concrete slabs and other wreckage. They escaped death in the most unlikely of ways and in the most surprising of places. Fourteen people survived inside the remnants of a stairwell at the center of the North Tower. One man remembers falling from a 22nd floor stairwell in the North Tower and regaining consciousness atop the 12-storydeep pile of rubble at ground zero. Two police officers, trapped in debris between the towers, barely survived both collapses. USA Today took a comprehensive look at who survived the collapse and why. The newspaper interviewed nine survivors and consulted construction experts and the architectural and engineering plans of the Twin Towers. The survivors had one thing in common: All ended up near the top of the debris. When the buildings fell ... the South Tower at 9:59 a.m., the North Tower at 10:28 a.m. ... the towers compacted into a rubble pile that filled a six-story basement and rose six stories above ground. Other people ... no one knows how many ... also survived the immediate collapse. They were heard on fire department radios, or their bodies, with no apparent fatal injuries, were found days or weeks later, almost intact, inside protective pockets deep in the tangle of steel and cement at ground zero. They could not be reached in time because of the immense volume of the rubble. On a day of terror, miracles were rare. For the 20 who survive today, the difference between life and death was that they could see sunlight after the collapses or were with someone who could. It was, in the truest sense, a ray of hope. These are the survivors' stories. 'We'll get out of here' Tom Canavan, 42, should have been long gone by the time the World Trade Center towers collapsed. He worked on the 47th floor of the North Tower, processing securities in the trust department of First Union bank. After American Airlines Flight 11 struck his tower at 8:46 a.m., he delayed leaving to help put securities back in the vault, and then got stuck in a congested stairwell. That's where he was at 9:03 a.m., when the South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175. More than an hour after the first crash, Canavan walked through the lobby's revolving doors into an underground shopping mall that connected the North and

http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/september/m090802f.htm

5/26/2004

USATODAY.com - Miracles emerge from debris

Pagel of 11

Student Loan Fact #249 Student loans such as the Stafford loan have variable interest rates until the borrower uses the Federal Student Consolidation Loan. Since student loans are at historic lows, now is the best time to consolidate and fix your student loan interest rate. Your rate may be fixed as low as 1.625% and monthly payments reduced by 54%.

®finarx Click here tc

Marketplace • Cars • Jobs • Franchises • Business Opportunities • Travel • Photos • Real Estate • Ticke Home News Money Sports Life Tech Weather Search

ogle

News • E-MAIL THIS • PR INT THIS • SAVE THIS • MOST POPULAR Posted NaN/NaN/NaN NaN:NaN PM

. SUBSCRIBE

Updated 9/6/2002 11:14 AM

Miracles emerge from debris By Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY

Politics Politics home Politics briefs Latest polls Political calendar Washington Washington home Washington briefs Government Guide Law Center Health Health home Medical resources Health tools Editorial/Opinion Ed/Op home Columnists Cartoons More News Top news briefs Nation briefs World briefs States Lotteries Census Special reports Day in news photos Snapshots Offbeat Video headlines Talk Today

The bodies of 2,803 human beings were buried when the World Trade Center crumbled into 3 billion pounds of debris. Miraculously, 20 people survived the collapse, amid steel beams, concrete slabs and other wreckage. They escaped death in the most unlikely of ways and in the most surprising of places. Fourteen people survived inside the remnants of a stairwell at the center of the north tower. One man remembers falling from a 22nd floor stairwell in the north tower and regaining consciousness atop the 12-story-deep pile of rubble at Ground Zero. Two police officers, trapped in debris between the towers, barely survived both collapses. New York firefighters, from left, Matt Komorowski, Billy Butler, John Jonas and Sal

D'Agostino survived the collapse inside a stairwell. By Todd Plitt, USA TODAY USA TODAY took a comprehensive look at who survived the collapse and why. The newspaper interviewed nine survivors and consulted construction experts and the architectural and engineering plans of the twin towers. The survivors had one thing in common: All ended up near the top of the debris. When the buildings fell — the south tower at 9:59 a.m., the north tower at 10:28 a.m. — the towers compacted into a rubble pile that filled a six-story basement and rose six stories above ground. Other people — no one knows how many — also survived the immediate collapse. They were heard on fire department radios, or their bodies, with no apparent

http://www.usatoday.com/news/septl l/2002-09-05-miracles-usat_x.htm

Interactive documentary • Miracles: surviving the

Day 4: Surviving the collapse • Miracles emerge from

Day 3: Escape route or death trap • Elevators were disaste • 21 trapped people imp • Excruciating wait nearl • Plunge just the start of

5/26/2004

American Experience The Center of the World - New York: A Documentary Film

Page 1 of2

AMSRIC,- N EXPERIENCE Interview Outtakti William Langewiesche: video | transcript

9?1 Feature Feedback Tell us what you think about "Interview Outtakes" close window

On;

The story of Pasquale Buzzelli is long and complicated. Typically it's full of confusion. He was one of those people who, for reasons essentially of confusion and not understanding what was going to happen -- no one did - stayed in the buildings, sticking to — He was a particularly well-behaved fellow, as were the others who stayed with him, sticking to the approved plan of — you know — wait for the evacuation order. So rather than leaving, as the great majority of people did, whether on their own initiative or on someone else's orders, these people stayed, fairly high in the North Tower, and then were caught by the collapse during a descent of the stairwells. Buzzelli was approximately on the 22nd floor, I believe, or in that neighborhood. He was fairly high up in the building. He heard the collapse coming from above. It sounded to him like a boulder coming down on his head as the floors progressed, pancaking down successfully. Bam, bam, bam. He heard this thundering. And he didn't of course — And he knew what was happening. He felt the building shaking. He was an engineer. He had this sort of clearheaded technical ability to — and remained quite calm. He also instinctively ducked, as one would duck with a boulder coming toward one's head. And that's what it felt like to him. He went into a curl in a corner of the stairwell. And then it all fell apart around him, and he felt himself falling free. He kept his eyes closed. But he had all kinds of coherent thoughts, including that this was — this reminded him of a ride in a amusement park — I think, Great Adventure in New Jersey — and how that "falling free" sensation was just like some big roller coaster. He had those thoughts. He was -- He felt the debris against his face as he was falling. And he saw with his eyes closed, he saw these bright flashes. He was being hit by pieces of debris. He was getting bright flashes... behind his closed eyes. Then there was a big final white flash, bright flash. And when he woke up, he was on top of the pile, on top of a huge slab. He, as far as he was concerned, hit the ground and woke up. The only thing is, it was two hours later. So he was out for about two hours. He had no memory or no concept of being out. But he knew exactly what had happened to him. And, I mean, the amazing thing about Buzzelli's story is that he was coherent about it. He could describe it in detail, what it was to fall-- during that collapse. Beyond that, the amazing thing is that he survived by landing on top of the debris pile. So what was a peculiar thing in that collapse is that there -- the entire building beat him to the ground. It beat him to the ground in two ways. It — Because of the peculiar pancaking nature of that collapse, top to bottom, systematically, by the time it caught up with him — the collapse -most of the building had in a sense already collapsed and was already at something close to its terminal velocity -- maybe not its theoretical terminal velocity, but as fast as it was going to get — and passed him. Basically the building passed him on the way to the ground. And so, you know, he lost the race and survived. In fact, he had very little physical damage. I believe he broke his foot, and — but he was stranded. Of course he was disoriented. He couldn't move. He was up high on a slab. And then he -- And there was a long story full of fear and certainty of death, as fires approached. He looked up though, and he saw — he couldn't understand what had happened before that even, that — I mean, he knew the building had collapsed, but he couldn't — he still couldn't understand, where was — Where was the South Tower — which by that time had

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/sfeature/sf_int_pop_09_01_tr_qry.html

5/26/2004

TheBostonChannel.com - News - WTC Survivor Remembers Tumbling Down With Tower Page 1 of 3

Search

Contact the Station

Sign up for ENews

THEBQSTONCHANNEL.CC3M

I Help You Need If Food If Dating If Travel If Legal Center If AutoftflShopping If YellowPages If What's On WCVBI

Home News) Politicsj Weather Sports HealthBeat Buyer Beware | Entertainment [ Chronicle Nat I Money I Tech 1 House and Home II Real Estate 1 Career I Weddings II Family H Community II Education II Pets I

Download - efcklFREE Download - click « HOME | NEWS El Email This Story

Print This Story

Find Great Travel Packages

WTC Survivor Remembers Tumbling Down With Tower Buzzelli Survives Free-Fall, Building Collapse POSTED: 12:19 p.m. EOT September 9, 2002 UPDATED: 5:26 p.m. EOT September 9, 2002

NEW YORK -- As the nation begins marking a painful time, a World Trade Center survivor is talking about his experiences on Sept. 11. Video

Watch Jack Harper's Report • Song For Hope

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper said that Pasquale Buzzelli was on the 64th floor of Tower One when the plane hit the building. "Within a couple of flights, I heard a tremendous pounding from above and the building started to shake," Buzzelli said.

Desktop Alert Get News And Weather Alerts Delivered To Your Desktop Download Desktop Alert, and get up-to-the-minute alerts: * Breaking News Alerts * Severe Weather Alerts * Click here to download!

Premium Weather Monitor Approaching Storms

Buzzelli made it down to the 22nd floor when it collapsed.

Track storm cells to see if your personal locations may be in their path. Try it now! Already a subscriber? Log in here.

"I fell into a corner. I curled up into a fetal position, and I closed my eyes, and I just started praying. I felt the walls crack that I was next to. I felt the slab underneath me and it broke free. Everything just crumbled around me. At that point, I knew the building was going," he said. Buzzelli was one of three civilians to survive the

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/1656820/detail.html

5/26/2004

Firehouse.corn's 9-11 Coverage: News 9/9/02 - WTC Survivor Remembers Tumbling Do... Page 1 of 2

EMP IS YOUR Click Here to Continue to

Inside 9/11 Section ...

Inside Firel

tt 11 ft 1 tragedy. t J+ A A* \f A

MAIN HOME PAGE 9-11

HOME

Updated: Monday, Septembers, 2002 - 2:00p Home —> 9/11 —> Story

~£ E-Mail this story to a friend/co-worker

THE VICTIMS

NEWS ARCHIVE

WTC Survivor Remembers Tumbling Down With Tower

WTC: THEIR STORY

Buzzelli Survives Free-Fail, Building Collapse

PHOTOS & IMAGES MEMORIAL SERVICES

RELATED LINKS DISCUSS 9/11 9/11

Story by Boston Channel

WALLPAPER

Underwritten By

NEW YORK, Updated 12:25 p.m. EDT September 9, 2002 As the nation begins marking a painful time, a World Trade Center survivor is talking about his experiences on Sept. 11. NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper said that Pasquale Buzzelli was on the 64th floor of Tower One when the plane hit the building. "Within a couple of flights, I heard a tremendous pounding from above and the building started to shake," Buzzelli said. Buzzelli made it down to the 22nd floor when it collapsed. LATE

Search for Emergency Services Victims Browse profiles of police, fire and EMS responders lost on 9/11. [Search Now]

"I fell into a corner. I curled up into a fetal position, and I closed my eyes, and I just started praying. I felt the walls crack that I was next to. I felt the slab underneath me and it broke free. Everything just crumbled around me. At that point, I knew the building was going," he said. Buzzelli was one of three civilians to survive the crash. He said that he still suffers nightmares. "I just prayed the 'Our Father,' and I just tumbled with the building. I saw a few flashes of light from the impacts to my head. I knew I was getting hit in the head. I didn't feel any pain from it when I was getting hit. I think it was from shock or something. I felt a gust of wind, like a sand blast type of effect on my body, just from falling.

* -^ Supply

"I felt the free-falling sensation of tumbling. Then I saw one huge flash of light and I think that was the final impact. When I landed, something hard hit me in the head. They say you see stars when you get hit in the

http://www.firehouse.com/terrorist/91 l/9_IBSsurvivor.html

9/11 Comi Manv They

New Systt Yean FDI\ Also True Brotf Regn

Dad Elite Rebu

5/26/2004

7Online.com: A Special Reunion Between A Survivor Of The WTC Attacks, His Family ... Page 1 of 2

Makeover Your Mornin

EYEWIJNESS Juick Links

HOME Eyewitness News

Accu-Weather Lottery Sports Entertainment Health Technology Metro Traffic 7 Community Event Calendar >.

NEWS Si print story | H email story

I Wednesday, May 26, MOTHER'S D

last updated: 11/30/2001

A Special Reunion Between A Survivor Of The WTC Attacks, His Family And The Firefighters Who Saved Him (New York-WABC, November 30, 2001) — There was a very special reunion Friday, between firefighters and a man they rescued from the World Trade Center. Firefighters also got the chance to meet the newest member of his family. Stacey Sager has the story. Watch Stacey Sager's Report

Mother's Day 2004! I perfect excuse to let appreciate everythin you. Here are some show you think MOI\t Here!

• 10 Fabulous Way Mom

Louise Buzzelli, Survivor's Wife: "Thank you so much. Thank you so much for bringing my husband home that day."

I MOTHER'S I

About ABC7 Newi Bios •Contact Us « Her husband is Pasquale Buzzelli, and had it not been for several New

CELEBRATI

Automotive York City firefighters, he would not have lived to see the birth of his brand new baby, Hope, who was born one week after September 11th.

YOUR TURN

DID YOU KN Michael Lyons, Engine 228: "He told us that he was married, he had his wife at home worried, he was worried about her and he knew she would be worried about him, and that he was expecting a little baby very shortly, so it made it even more important to get him home."

WEATHER TODAY AT A GLAHC

Currently

There are few words that can even describe Pasquale's surreal descent from the 64th floor of Tower One that day. He made it down to the 22nd floor when the building began to fall.

High: 66

Pasquale Buzzelli, September 11th Survivor: "I felt a big rush of wind, almost like a sandblaster type thing. I just kept my face covered, and eventually I felt myself free falling." He fell down to the 6th floor, drifting in and out of consciousness and eventually landing on a five-by-five cement block, surrounded by what the firefighters called a bird cage of wires and metal. It was firefighter Jimmy Kiesling who climbed above that metal with rope, and helped lower Pasquale down. Jimmy Kiesling, Rescue 2: "The guys below told me, 'No, no, to the left, to the right,' where I could lower him. Where they would be able to grab him."

Metro Radar • • • •

t

Get YOUR Local I 5-Day and Hourly Accu-Weather Te Bill Evans' Home

Free! Desktop W< j^j^F^^ Get s< 1 Warni

A girlfriend of one of the firefighters, who is also a Red Cross volunteer, did a computer search to arrange Friday's emotional reunion. It was a badly needed happy occasion for a fire company that lost 11 men that day. Louise Buzzelli: "And to my husband, just thank you for being alive, and for being there for the birth of our baby. I know you had an angel on your shoulder that day. Four angels."

TRAFFIC Check the Roads Traffic Maps ...| T<

Pasquale and his hope are now a symbol of four men's bravest hopes, that

http://abclocal.go.eom/wabc/news/WABC_113001_WTCreunion.html

5/26/2004

TIME: September 11 — 11 Lives — The Survivor

TIME

Nation

Page 1 of5

Business

September 11

11 Litves

HOLY SPIRIT: Praying in the sanctuary of her church in Brooklyn

It's This Issue I COVER STORY One Year Later As the anniversary of 9/11 nears, most I Americans are still taking stock, wondering if life really has changed. For 11 people profiled in this issue, the answer is clear

Alo< Covt Sepl • Na_nc; Day o • Shatti by Jai « Lance Rage Retribu) » Cover Natioi

Rudy Giuliani Building the right kind of memorial Michael Kinsley Let's worry less about terrorism

» Ameri Remem

Andrew Sullivan Why life will never be the same

<• Sept. Mernori;

Michael Elliott Why life hasn't really changed

« World Your Pr

The Numbers Tallying up the toll of Sept.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CATRINA GENOVESE

11 This Issue: Table of Contents Purchase This Issue Subscribe to TIME

* 11 L I V E S

I THE S U R V I V O R

A MIRACLE'S COST Genelle Guzman-McMillan was the last person found alive in the debris of Ground Zero. Having cheated death, she isn't quite sure how to live

•> Storie • TheV • TheF

By JOHN CLOUD Shadow to Light The attacks and the aftermath Choose: High-speed | Low-speed A City of Ashes Eugene Richards captures a grieving city

Posted Sunday, September 1, 2002; 3:38 p.m. EST

W

hy isn't Genelle Guzman-McMillan dead? Nearly everyone else who had not left the Twin Towers by 10:28 a.m. on Sept. 11 perished. Unlike those stranded on higher floors, Genelle, who worked for the Port Authority on the 64th floor of the north tower, could have left earlier, but she tarried, fearful and uncertain like so many others. She was still walking down stairway B when the building collapsed. Unlike so many others, she lived.

ht1p://www.time.com/tirne/covers/1101020909/asurvivor.html

5/26/2004