'I was in the only area where people got out alive': Photographer explains how he found himself at Ground Zero as the towers fell - and how the two-hour ordeal changed his life

The fear and confusion felt by millions in New York on 9/11 has been captured by these terrifying photographs. But just as frightening and extraordinary is the story
behind them. Phil Penman was a news reporter in his early twenties enjoying his first day off in six months when he received the call that would change his life: A job to go down to Wall Street and photograph the World Trade Center, which had just been hit by a plane. 'When I got there not much had happened yet,' explained Penman, now 39, a Briton who has lived in New York for more than 15 years. 'The towers were on fire but we couldn't envision what would happen next.'