Elia Zedeno, 46, was working as a financial analyst when she escaped from the 73rd floor of the World Trade Centre's north tower after the first plane hit 20 floors above her. She also survived the 1993 terrorist bombing. Today, she leads tours at Ground Zero.
When I came out of the long stairway down and was able to look out of a window for the first time, it was weird. I said to myself: 'Look at all those things flying around and on the ground, and look at all the colours.'
But it was the wrong colour for the trees and the shapes were all wrong. Suddenly I realised what I was seeing. I was looking at bodies, lying all around. And the colour was red. It was blood.
Some days it's easy to tell the story of what happened that day, and some days it's hard. I never really know until I start telling it.
But I think it's important for people to get an accurate depiction. A lot of people who come to the site only really see the vendors selling their photographs, and a lot of them will say whatever they need to make a sale.
When the aircraft hit the tower, I thought it was an earthquake. The first thing that came to mind was 1993, when I was trapped in an elevator after the bomb went off. When I got home that night, I didn't have my keys, so this time I grabbed my bag and started looking for things to take with me.
