As the world marks the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the stories of Nepalis who were in New York that day remain little known. While nearly 3,000 people perished when two planes struck the World Trade Center, a handful of Nepali expatriates narrowly escaped, their survival owed to coincidence, delay, or the helping hand of strangers.
Shailesh Shrestha: A Shift That Saved a Life
For Shailesh Shrestha, a restaurant worker at the famed Windows on the World on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, September 11, 2001, began like any other day. Normally, he would have been serving breakfast to executives in the sky.
But that morning, his schedule was changed to an afternoon shift. When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the tower at 8:46 am, Shrestha was far from the building. Seventy-three of his colleagues were killed instantly.
“Life is a document of coincidence,” he recalled years later, haunted by survivor’s guilt and the loss of so many friends.
Yuli Chen: Rescued from a Stampede
Another Nepali-speaking worker, Yuli Chen from Darjeeling, also counts her survival as an accident of fate. She had been due to report to the upper floors but was delayed in reaching her post.
When the towers began to collapse, she was caught in a stampede, trampled under fleeing crowds.
A police officer pulled her to safety, changing the course of her life. “After that day, I no longer fear death,” Chen says. “I have already faced it once.”
Keshab Raj Seadie: Oversleeping Into Life
Attorney Keshab Raj Seadie (Sedai), who had an office close to the World Trade Center, overslept that morning after an exhausting week. By the time he arrived downtown, the towers were already ablaze. The small delay spared him from being inside when the towers collapsed.
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“Life felt like a bubble of water,” he said later, describing the fragility of existence that 9/11 laid bare.
The Long Shadow of Trauma
For survivors like Shrestha, Chen, and Seadie, 9/11 left deep emotional wounds. Loud noises or even seeing tall buildings still bring back fear. Some stopped using elevators or trains for years because the memories were too heavy.
Their struggles are similar to thousands of others who lived through that day but whose stories are rarely told.
A Forgotten Chapter
The Nepali community in the U.S., including Gurkhas working in security and hospitality, was also part of New York’s daily life. On 9/11, they too faced loss and fear. But their experiences have mostly remained in the shadows, hidden under the bigger American story of tragedy and bravery.
As the world remembers 9/11, these voices remind us that the attacks were not only an American tragedy but a global one. Nepalis, too, walked through the dust, smoke, and chaos, carrying memories that remain as sharp today as they were that morning.
