‘It was horrendous and frightening’: Leeds locals reflect on where they were when 9/11 happened

For many residents in Leeds, September 11, 2001 is a day they can remember exactly where they were.

25 years on, Leeds locals have been reflecting on how they first heard the news of the 9/11 attacks and the moment they realised the scale of what was happening.

Liz, who prefers not to give her surname, recalled hearing about the first plane while travelling home from work.

“I was working in Crawley at the time and I just got on the bus on the way back from lunch and I heard it on the radio. They said this plane had gone into a building and we imagined it being a tiny plane like in King Kong,” she told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“If you tell someone who wasn’t there and didn’t see it, they’d never believe you.”

Another local woman described the gradual realisation that the incident was not simply an accident.

“At first we thought it was just a plane accident and then you realise that it wasn’t, and as the day went on it became horrendous and frightening,” she said.

For one resident, Vanessa White, the news unfolded thousands of miles away while she was on holiday in Thailand.

She recalled being in a bar with American soldiers when the news began to spread.

“You cannot ever forget something like that because it’s changed the shape of our world and so many people lost their lives,” she shared with us.

Reflecting on why it remains important to remember 9/11, she added: “I think it's really important, otherwise are we ever going to learn and move on?

“We need to remember that these things happen and that they’re real, to stop it from happening again.”