BBC News: Yorkshire Man Who Survived 9/11 and Filmed Tower Collapsing
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‘I survived the epicentre of 9/11 – I’m so lucky’
Image source: Paul Berriff
Image caption: Paul Berriff went to film the aftermath of 9/11 but ended up buried under rubble
By Amy Oakden, BBC Radio Tees and Seb Cheer, Yorkshire
Published: 11 September 2026, 06:27 BST
Updated: 40 minutes ago
Warning: This story contains graphic details of the aftermath from the 9/11 attacks.
On 11 September 2001, photographer and documentary filmmaker Paul Berriff was living and working in New York City. He vividly remembers that fateful day. More recently, he has become one of thousands of survivors diagnosed with terminal illnesses connected to the long-term effects of that tragic event. Now aged 80 and living near Northallerton in North Yorkshire, Berriff has shared his harrowing experience.
"Somebody came into the office and said a plane had hit the twin towers," he recalled. Initially thinking it might be a light aircraft or helicopter, he phoned his wife who was at their home in Lower Manhattan. She described "fire engines and people running around." Berriff’s "news instinct kicked in," and he set out to document the events on camera.
As he approached the scene, they could see "both towers were on fire."
"We could see these black dots coming down from the side of each building and we wondered what it was," Berriff said.
"As we got nearer, we could see it was people jumping, so we knew it was pretty serious."
They reached the base of the towers, where assistant fire commissioner Steve Gregory was coordinating firefighters’ efforts. Suddenly, "there was this loud explosion to my left," Berriff said. He turned his camera and saw "the top of the south tower peeling away, like a massive umbrella opening."
Firefighters shouted for everyone to run, but Berriff stayed put, staring through his camera’s viewfinder at the unfolding catastrophe. After approximately two seconds, he and sound recordist Lulu started running down the street.
"The next thing I remember was my camera leaving my hand in slow-motion and everything goes black."
He was unconscious for about 35 minutes, during which time the second tower also collapsed. When Berriff regained consciousness, his "mouth was full of all this cement gunge stuff." He could hardly breathe, was sweating, and his trousers were burning. Total blackness enveloped him, like ash from a volcano.
After crawling for what felt like an eternity to escape, Berriff emerged from under the rubble.
"I could see everything’s gone from colour to black and white," he said. "It was like ash from a volcano."
He found Lulu’s sound mixer and his camera, which had miraculously survived the ordeal. Berriff later learned that he was likely the first alive person in the heart of the devastation – a testament to his incredible luck.
