[BBC]
“The design of the World Trade Center saved thousands of lives by standing for well over an hour after the planes crashed into its twin towers, say structural engineers.”
“But the towers’ ultimate collapse was inevitable, as the steel cores inside them reached temperatures of 800C – raising questions as to why hundreds of rescue workers were sent into the doomed buildings to their deaths.”
“The steel and concrete structures performed amazingly well, said John Knapton, professor in structural engineering at Newcastle University, UK.”
“”It was the fire that killed the buildings. There’s nothing on earth that could survive those temperatures with that amount of fuel burning,” said structural engineer Chris Wise.”
“Other buildings – including the 47-storey Salomon Brothers building – caved in later, weakened by the earlier collapses, and more nearby buildings may still fall, say engineers.”
“But the eventual collapse of the twin towers was so predictable that the order should have been given to withdraw emergency services within an hour, said Professor Knapton.”
Read more: How the World Trade Center fell
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