Rahul Shukla picked up a coffee at Starbucks as he entered Three World Financial Center at 8:45 a.m on Tuesday.  He was to meet a friend who works at the American Express office in the building right across from the World Trade Center.  "As I entered the lobby, I saw people running out, screaming that there had been a plane crash.  I ran out and saw office-goers run into the Towers.  No one knew what was going on."

Shukla saw fire and smoke.  He heard people screaming.  He thought about his sister, Ruchira, who works in an office close to the Towers and lives in Manhattan Park.  He tried calling her but he could not get through.  "I began running towards her office, thinking I might bump into her, somewhere," said Shukla.  He abandoned the effort when he realized there was too much confusion. "I turned and looked at the Tower and saw a big hole in it.  I saw two bodies fall out.  One was definitely a man.  I could tell he was wearing a suit.  It was impossible to tell whether he jumped out or was thrown out because of the explosion.  A woman who saw the bodies started screaming."

Debris flew in all directions.  Glass was shattering.  Aluminum bits were flying.  Smoke was filling the streets.  Shukla ran into a hotel lobby.  Lines of people were waiting to call family and friends.  "What freaked me out was the people calling their friends who were in the Towers, on lower floors.  Those people did not know that their building had been hit," said Shukla, his voice sounding very shaken. "I did manage to contact my sister, who said she was fine."

There were masses of people everywhere. Long lines were forming and people were trying to make their way around. Shukla walked up to 42nd Street, where he saw a cab discharging passengers.  He jumped in.  "The driver could hardly move because of the people.  He drove on the pavement for a few blocks.  It was terrifying."

Two blocks farther up, they found a man motioning desperately, trying to stop the cab.  The man got in and began crying. "I worked in the World Trade Center all night on Monday. I was laying cables," he told Shukla, who does not know the man's name.  "The man got out after telling me that the cab driver was an angel," said Shukla.

The cab dropped Shukla off at the Queensboro Bridge. "There was a mass procession on the bridge. It was a relief seeing all these people walking home."