Listen back on the Irish breaking news report of the September 11 attacks featuring an interview with IrishCentral's founder Niall O'Dowd live from New York.
During the September 11, 2001 episode of the Irish radio show ‘Liveline,' news broke of the attacks in New York City.
Speaking to Joe Duffy by phone from New York City, IrishCentral's Niall O’Dowd described the scenes after two passenger planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
During the interview, O'Dowd said it was about 9:30 am in New York City - the towers had not yet collapsed.
You can listen to Niall O'Dowd's Liveline interview on September 11, 2001, here.
"We've had two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. One as little as 18 minutes ago, caught live on television.
"Absolutely horrendous, Joe. People are very scared about what's happened. Was it a terrorist incident? Was it some navigational problem that planes have been dragged into this?
"Absolutely unbelievable."
He went on to say: "This will be absolutely catastrophic."
O'Dowd explained that the emergency center for New York is in the World Trade Center, but that after the 1993 bombing below the North Tower, an "emergency plan" had been implemented.
From the Upper East Side of Manhattan, O’Dowd described the scenes of smoke appearing right across the horizon of New York City.
Towards the end of this interview, O’Dowd received news that the first plane had been hijacked.
*"Fire in the Morning: The Story of the Irish and the Twin Towers on September 11" by Niall O'Dowd is available on Amazon. It's described as "the story of the Irish in New York on that dreadful day when a community faced the greatest test in its history and emerged changed forever. Their stories are inspiring and varied and provide an important historical account of the day that will forever live in infamy."
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