We were there. The day that changed the world, as told by the Sardinians who were in New York on September 11th, 25 years ago. Francesca Argiolas, who handles marketing and public relations at the family winery in Serdiana, where Turriga was born, recalls: "I was with three of the company's employees. Our hotel was right next to the World Trade Center complex, and we had a tasting at 11 a.m. We decided to take a sightseeing tour of the heart of Manhattan. The hotel TV was showing live footage from CNN. You could see one of the two towers in flames; we couldn't tell what had happened."

The sequences of that morning, moments that remain in the memory: "We noticed that all the shops were closed. Go away, get to safety, the rare passersby told us. Then chaos erupted. Cars with sirens blaring, ambulances, emergency vehicles moving. A frenzy and apprehension that is hard to describe."

The smoke

We saw smoke rising from the towers. Apocalyptic images. When we returned to the hotel, we found desperate people. We were isolated in Manhattan for three days. All the

The bridges were blocked. Days of terror. At every bomb threat, we had to go down to the hotel basement." Finally, the moment of departure arrived: "After takeoff, our plane was flanked by two planes to protect us. They accompanied us for a few interminable minutes."

The flames

Paolo Ruffi, a native of Cagliari, now lives and works in Oregon and California in the wine trade. On September 11th, he was in New York, witnessing the unprecedented attack on the heart of the United States: "I was on a bus. I was heading to Rockefeller Center, where the company I worked for was headquartered. A policeman, who boarded, told us to get off the bus and go home. I decided to continue on foot. I saw the flames engulfing the Twin Towers. That disaster scarred an urban space that had once been a dynamic, cheerful, and vibrant place. Since then, New York has changed profoundly. The city has darkened."

The chaos

Nicoletta Serrenti was 22, a third-year university student, and had come to New York for a six-month internship at the United Nations. Today she works at NATO in Brussels. "When the first plane hit one of the Twin Towers," she recalls, "the initial talk was that the plane, departing from John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport, was flying too low and had lost control. I was on the street, on my way to work. When the other plane hit the second tower, there was a huge explosion, the earth shook. The word 'terrorist attack' started circulating. There were lots of people in the streets, running, screaming; I remember some crying. The city was in chaos, subway stations were closed, and soldiers were patrolling the streets trying to direct the crowds away from Downtown." Twenty-five years later, her memories continue to have clear contours. "I felt feelings of disbelief, fear, and above all uncertainty. There was talk of other possible targets. There were no smartphones back then, so I tried to understand what was really happening from the excited conversations of people on the streets. But the news was fragmented and confusing. I was at a safe distance when the collapse occurred, but anyone lucky enough to have seen the Twin Towers will remember that they were visible from all over Manhattan. I saw the first tower crumble in on itself, then a dense cloud of smoke and debris engulfed Downtown. I remember a crowd of people standing still, unable to believe their eyes.

The terror

Filippo Lai, 47, born in Cagliari and now a manager in large-scale retail, arrived on September 10th, the day before the apocalypse, staying with a cousin who had moved to the United States. "I wanted to look around and, who knows, maybe find a job. That morning I was at home, near the banks of the Hudson. I went up to the apartment building's terrace. Along with the other housemates, I watched the second plane crash. It looked like a scene from a movie, but it was all dramatically real."

Massimiliano Rais

© Riproduzione riservata