Tuesday June 13, 2006
US 9/11 group seeks aid of Dr M
By SIM LEOI LEOI
PUTRAJAYA: During the Sept 11, 2001 aerial attacks on New York’s Twin Towers, former janitor William Rodriguez helped to rescue 40 victims and he, eventually, had to also be pulled out from the rubble.
He went on to become a decorated hero and was feted by both the White House and Congress. When the government set up a commission to look into the tragedy, he gave his account.
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FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT: Rodriquez showing an image of one of the three stairwells in the North Tower in New York, where he was the janitor-in-charge before the Sept 11 attacks. |
He said only 27 of the 168 questions put to the commission by victims and affected families had been answered.
Rodriguez, who was in charge of three stairwells in the North Tower, and team members of the Reopen 9/11 Organisation met former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here yesterday.
“We came here because we wanted to give Dr Mahathir our version about what happened and would like his assistance in our work. He told us he would consider it,” Rodriguez said, adding that Malaysia was their first stop in a Muslim country.
“I lost 200 of my friends in the tragedy, 36 of whom were Muslims. I believe the US government had used the tragedy to demonise Islam and Muslims, and used it as the reason for the international war against terrorism.”
Recapping the tragic events, he said he was in the North Tower when he heard explosions from the basement at 8.45am that day, even before the first plane rammed into the building.
“My first thought was that the generator had blown out in Basement Two of the tower. When I ran down there, I met a Honduran man who had worked in that basement and whose skin had been badly burnt in the explosion.
“Then, there was another explosion which shook the tower. People told me later that an airplane had crashed into the building’s upper floors,” he said.
Rodriguez said he also heard explosions from below the 44th floor as he, together with a few firemen and policemen, raced around trying to save people before the building collapsed.
Reopen 9/11 Organisation founder Jimmy Walter said those who seek to know more about their campaign could log on to www.reopen911.org.
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