Up to 50,000 people worked at the World Trade Center. How many were inside the towers at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001?
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17,400
About 17,400 people were inside the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., divided almost equally between the towers, and about 88% made it out alive. The North Tower suffered far heavier losses because the initial impact severed every stairwell, leaving zero survivors above the crash zone. By contrast, South Tower occupants had 17 minutes to begin evacuating before their building was hit.
In the South Tower, one stairwell survived the impact. Brian Clark, an executive on the 84th floor, found Stairwell A passable and walked down through the damaged floors, stopping to free a man trapped in wreckage. He was one of only 18 people to escape from at or above the impact zone.
On September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., about 17,400 people were inside the Twin Towers. Up to 50,000 worked there on a normal day.
Source: NIST (NCSTAR 1-7, Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communication) · checked 2005