The then Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Tariq A Karim was frantically looking for a way to go back to Washington from Atlanta.
All flights were suspended and there was no ticket at the AmTrak.
Finding no other way, he chose to rent a car to drive back to Washington, over 1,000 kilometres from his location.
The ambassador, whose date of birth was Sept 11, stepped into a rent-a-car office only to find that no car was available.
The front desk was kind enough to inform him that a car might be available the next day and asked for his driving license.
Seeing his date of birth, the attendant said, “Wow, it’s 9/11.”
The witty ambassador replied, “Look buddy, my parents didn’t plan for it.”
The next day he was able to rent a car and drove back to Washington.
In the meantime, he sent a series of instructions to the embassy which his then deputy Mustafa Kamal and other officials carried out.
Bangladesh was one of the first few countries, which condemned the terrorist attack with the strongest possible voice.
“I knew that it would take some time to get clearance from the headquarters to issue a statement and that’s why I didn’t wait for it. I instructed Kamal to issue an instant statement on behalf of the ambassador, the embassy and the people of Bangladesh and sent a note verbale to State Department.
“I also asked him to send a message to the headquarters informing them a statement had been issued that from the embassy and Dhaka should do the same.”
Three or four days after the attack, President George W Bush delivered a speech at the Congress where all the ambassadors were invited.
“When I reached there, I was welcomed with marked honour because we issued the statement very early; interestingly, Dhaka had not issued a statement even then.{
Karim said the then foreign affairs adviser Shafi Sami later told him it took some time as it needed the clearance from Awami League and BNP chiefs who were busy for elections.
Just before Sept 11, the Karim went to Atlanta to meet former US president Jimmy Carter, who was scheduled to come to Dhaka as an observer to monitor the national election that was held on Oct 1 that year.
“On 9/11, I had a breakfast meeting with the Atlanta Chamber and when I was going back to my hotel at around 9am, my taxi driver was murmuring, ‘What is going on in this world; how come a plane crashed into a building and other things?’
“I didn’t pay attention as I was pre-occupied with my chamber meeting and the upcoming meeting with former president Carter later in day,” said the former envoy.
It was only when Karim came to his hotel room, he knew about the attack.
“When I went back, my wife who accompanied me said ‘Watch the TV and see if your meeting (with President Carter) is still on.”
Karim said his immediate response was to get in touch with the mission, but the phone network was down.
“I kept trying and, at last found Kamal and gave him the necessary instruction.
“I tried to contact the Carter Foundation, but could not find anybody and later on decided to go there along with my wife, who was also scheduled to meet Mrs. Carter.”
Karom said they were greeted by an official greeted at the Carter Foundation and assured that President the meeting was on, but Mrs Carter was taken to a safe place as advised by the administration.
“I watched the speech of President George Bush while waiting for the former president.
“The moment President Bush in his speech said ‘We are going to hunt down the terrorists wherever they are’, I immediately realised it had far reaching implications and might have an impact on Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country.”
Meanwhile in Washington
Deputy Chief of Mission Mustafa Kamal reached the embassy at 9:05am on that day.
As soon as he stepped in to the building, he found Commercial Counsellor Ghulam Hossain.
“‘Sir, please come to my room’ is what he said, The tv in his room splashed the news of the most horrific terrorist act the world had ever experienced,” said Kamal, whose initial reaction was to get the ambassador on phone.
“The ambassador’s first instruction was to report to headquarters and find out if there were any Bangladeshi casualties” Kamal said adding: “Initially, we were trying to consolidate our position.”
Some of embassy staff who came to office from different locations had actually seen the third plane crash in to the Pentagon, he said.
“We immediately contacted all the officials in Washington and their family members to know whether they were safe or not.
“Simultaneously, we were in touch with our New York Permanent Mission and Consulate office. We panicked and it was very difficult to adjust with the developments as things were happening very fast.”
There was a security concern also as Israeli embassy was located near to the Bangladesh mission, Kamal said before adding that they thought that diplomatic zone could also be a terrorist target.
“In Washington, Shahidul Islam and Md. Nazmul Quaunine were the counsellors, Quazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed was economic minister, Abul Kalam Azad the press minister, Chowdhury A Nur was the first secretary.
“From the very beginning, it was clear to us that the impact would last and a lot of things would happen,” said Kamal.
Assistant Secretary Christina Rocca was their contact point then at the US State Department and they immediately contacted her office to know the latest development, said the then Bangladesh mission deputy chief.
And in New York
The then Bangladesh Consul General in New York Munshi Fayez Ahmed had a meeting three or four blocks from the World Trade Centre that morning.
As he was preparing to leave, his wife told him, “Watch the TV! A fire broke out at World Trade Center!”
Ahmed decided not to leave the house immediately.
“After a while, I tried to reach the spot but my car was stopped at 66th Street. I walked a bit and was again asked to go back by the police.
“We had very limited staff at the Consulate where I and Ashud Ahmed were the only officers.”
Ahmed said the first thing he did after going back to his office was contacting the Bangladeshi community to find out about the casualties.
“All of us panicked and did not understand what was happening.
“At first, there were rumours that many Bangladeshis were killed in the attack as a good number of them worked at the top-floor restaurant and some other offices in the World Trade Centre,” said the former consul general adding that it was later confirmed that six Bangladeshis were missing.
Ahmed said that several Bangladeshis later told him that the witnessed the incident when the planes crashed in to the two buildings of the WTC.
“The official confirmation came later that six Bangladeshis were killed and we went to their homes to meet the bereaved families.”
Ahmed said a Bangladeshi woman came to them a few days after the attack claiming her husband was killed in the terrorist attack, which they later found to be untrue.
“We had a series of meetings with the Bangladeshi community to give them the message that despise terrorism and be an American.
“It was also advised that the community should not bring in Bangladeshi politics in the US and fight with each other on what was happening in Dhaka,” Ahmed said adding that hate crimes hiked after the 9/11 attack, in which a Bangladeshi was killed.