The tragedy of 9/11 produced thousands of stories of heroism and heartbreak. One of those people celebrated and remembered this year on the 23rd anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks was Edna Cintron, who became known after she was captured waving from the burning World Trade Center just before it collapsed and she died.
The haunting footage captured the 46-year-old Marsh & McLennan administrative assistant 93 floors above the ground, standing in the gaping, smoldering hole of the WTC North Tower, waving her hand in the air and trying to signal for help. Smoke clouds and flames shot out of the hole left by the impact of Flight 11 as Cintron tried to signal for help shortly before the building collapsed and she died.
At 10:28 AM, the North Tower disappeared in a giant cloud of dust and Cintron became one of 2,996 victims that day who did not survive. Other haunting images from that day showed other people jumping from the opening in the building just before it collapsed, choosing to die that way instead.
According to her obituary, Cintron was a devoted wife, a hard worker, and “like a mother” to her widow, William Cintron, because of how nurturing she was toward him. William said she was “a very, very strong woman” and also credited her with helping him overcome his alcohol addiction. On the 23rd anniversary of her death, 9/11 Revisited posted a video in which William explains the horrifying moments prior to his wife’s death and said he was able to “tentatively” identify Edna as the woman standing at the hole in the tower for about twenty minutes in hopes of being rescued.
There remains speculation about whether or not the woman seen waving is actually Edna or someone else. Another man, whose fiancé Karen Juday also worked in the building and perished, believes she may be the one who is seen in the footage. He bases that assessment on the clothes he knew she wore to work that day. It’s difficult to determine 100% who the woman is because of how far away she is and her face is obscured.
