Study Shows Many in WTC Delayed Exiting

Figure after having plane crash through your building would be in hurry
to get out. Recent study which interviewed many of the survivors
found many did such things as shutting off computers, going to bathroom
and calling family and friends to discuss situation...

More than 90% of survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York delayed evacuating the buildings in order to carry out tasks such as saving their work, shutting down computers, changing shoes and visiting the bathroom, according to research released today.

Interviews with 271 survivors who worked in the twin towers found that only 8.6% fled as soon as the alarm was raised. The vast majority (91.4%) stayed behind waiting for information or carrying out at least one additional task, including phoning their family and collecting belongings.

The majority put their escape back by around eight minutes, with some delayed by half an hour. People who tried to find out what was going on took between 1.5 and 2.6 times longer to respond to the alarm than those who didn't.

www.guardian.co.uk...

IIRC, and time is pushing the events farther into memory, one of the great tragedies of the day was that occupants were told to sit tight in the south tower after the first plane hit, instead of evacuating both towers immediately.

Psychology plays greatly into the response noted in the article as well, wanting to believe all is fine, and so carrying out mundane tasks, even in an obvious emergency. But then few believed the towers would actually fall.