New York, September 20, 2001—An American free-lance news photographer is among the 233 confirmed dead in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Several other media workers have been reported injured or missing.
As of today, CNN reported, the confirmed death toll in the World Trade Center attacks stands at 233, with 170 of those victims identified. Another 6,333 people remain missing.
The body of free-lance photojournalist William Biggart was found in September 15 in the rubble at ground zero, near the bodies of several firefighters. Biggart had rushed to the World Trade Center with his camera shortly after hearing about the attacks.
The photographer had been a member of the Impact Visuals photo agency since 1988 and had covered events in the Gaza Strip and in Northern Ireland, according to Photo District News, a Web site devoted to photojournalism. His work appeared in The Village Voice, The City Sun, and The Christian Science Monitor.
New York Daily News photographer David Handschuh, who arrived at the scene just as people were being evacuated from the north tower, was injured as he ran for cover, according to news reports. When the south tower collapsed, the blast threw him under a parked vehicle. Handschuh’s leg was broken in two places; the journalist was later rescued by firefighters.
WTC broadcast engineers missing
Most of New York City’s television stations had broadcast facilities on the top floors of the World Trade Center’s north tower. Several broadcast engineers are still missing. They include WCBS-TV engineers Isaias Rivera and Bob Pattison; WNBC-TV engineer William Steckman; WPIX-TV engineer Steve Jacobson; WABC-TV engineer Donald DiFranco; and WNET-TV engineer Rod Coppola.
The terrorist attack left millions of New Yorkers without television signals. Some networks have been broadcasting from facilities in northern New Jersey or from portable transmitters. Others are using backup transmitters on top of the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan.
Some local radio stations also had transmitting facilities at the World Trade Center, but they were operated from remote locations.
