Capturing the shock of survivors as they emerged from dust-filled streets after 9/11

PHIL PENMAN

Commuters staggered through New York like zombies after the horror attack

THESE eerie photos show the immediate and terrifying aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks which shocked the planet and cost nearly 3,000 lives.

They were taken by a young British photographer working and living in New York but little did he know then the affect that day would have on him and the rest of the world.

PHIL PENMAN

Phil was called to take photos after the World Trade Center was hit by the first plane

PHIL PENMAN

Phil said it was amazing how New Yorkers pulled together in the wake of the atrocity

PHIL PENMAN

Two police officers pictured on duty at the foot of the doomed towers

On the morning of September 11th 2001, Phil Penman was asleep at his home when his work mobile rang.

It was his first day off working for Splash News in months and he admits he didn't even pick it up.

Luckily he quickly listened to his answer machine.

He said: "It was a Splash reporter who said: 'Phil a plane has flown into one of the World Trade Center towers, you might want to check it out.'

"I jumped out of bed threw on whatever T-shirt and pants I could find, grabbed my camera bag and jumped on my bicycle and cycled like a man possessed to get to the towers as quickly as possible.

"My main goal was to get below the towers as I knew it would not be long before the police roped everything off with tape and I would not get near.

"It was a real mix of businessmen in suits, tourists, construction workers, and local store clerks staring up at the towers.

"Some people were screaming, others with their hands over their eyes struck in disbelief of what was unfolding before them.

PHIL PENMAN

The moment the first tower started to disintegrate

PHIL PENMAN

Chaos reigned in the hours after the al-Qaeda attack

PHIL PENMAN

An emergency worker seen running to safety as the buildings came down

PHIL PENMAN

Paperwork fell from the New York skies like confetti

"I could hear loud screams as people were jumping from the top of the building.

"All of a sudden I could hear a loud noise and the building was collapsing in front of my very eyes. I clicked away just watching the tower come down further and further as the large beams from the towers got bigger and bigger in my camera.

Phil said then everything went completely black and he headed inside the relative safety of a nearby store.

"A man runs in screaming “F***! I made it” he was covered head to toe in debris. A policeman gives him a bottle of water. The man looks possessed as he had literally just ran for his life," revealed the lensman.

"I go up to the guy and say do you mind if I take a couple of pictures. He says 'go ahead Kid!'

PHIL PENMAN

A dirt-covered woman is led to safety by a NYPD cop

PHIL PENMAN

Two police officers stagger away from the scene of the chaos

PHIL PENMAN

An officer workers covered his face as smoke filled the air

PHIL PENMAN

The terror attack claimed thousands of innocent lives

"I pulled my camera up to take a picture of a woman being helped by what looked like a traffic warden.

"They were both covered head to toe and she was crying. I questioned myself, could I do this? Take pictures of people at their weakest moment."

The Dorset-born photographer said up until that day the had mainly taken photos of celebrities.

"All of a sudden firemen were running up the street towards me. 'Run! The second one is about to come down,'" he said.

"The phone rings again. Its my boss Kevin who is in Los Angeles. He says, 'I know you do not want to leave the site, but you have to get back to the office to send as the papers were waiting.'”

PHIL PENMAN

Some workers hid away in local stores and shops for safety

PHIL PENMAN

Stunned New Yorkers looked on just after the plane hit

PHIL PENMAN

One man is given a bottle of water by emergency crews

PHIL PENMAN

A Mercedes which was parked just streets away front the towers

 (Source : The Sun, London)