9/11 memorial is chained off outside World Trade Center

9/11 memorial is chained off outside New York City’s World Trade Center after a person jumped 45 FOOT into 18 inches of water at site of 2001 atrocity

• Police briefly cordoned off the North Tower Memorial following the incident 
• New York City Fire Department confirmed one person was taken to hospital

Police have launched a probe after a person jumped into the 9/11 North Tower Memorial.

The person, who has not been identified, survived the leap despite diving about 45ft into the reflecting pool, which was briefly cordoned off, the New York Times reports.

Officials said the jumper was able to access the area during a visit of 9/11 victim’s relatives, and was ‘briefly granted access to the restricted area at the plaza-level.’

The person was rushed to a local hospital, complaining of ‘back pain’, with the area reopening a short time later. 

A New York City Fire Department spokesman confirmed to DailyMail.com the person survived the leap into the 18 inches of water.

The person survived the leap, diving into the 18ft reflecting pool, which was briefly cordoned off (stock photo)

A New York City Fire Department spokesman confirmed to DailyMail.com the person survived the leap into the 18-inch deep water

Officials received a call at 1.30pm on Monday to reports of a ‘jumper in the fountain’, with one person transported to Bellevue Hospital.

It is unclear if anyone has thrown themselves into the reflection pools in the past, with police previously raising concerns over the potential issue.

Former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said they had to consider the ‘possibilities’ someone might try to commit suicide in the monument.

Grief experts also claimed the memorial could set off a ‘negative psychological reaction’, especially those who have a direct connection to atrocities.

Officials at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum said that a physical landmark for a tragedy is a ‘trigger for grief’.

Kari F Watkins told the New York Times previously: ‘People come to these places and begin to understand the meaning of them.

‘We’re teaching lessons of remembrance and resilience, and no matter what people are going through in their personal lives, they can relate to some story that is told here.’

The New York Police Department and the 9/11 Memorial did not immediately respond to a request for comment by DailyMail.com. 

Officials received a call at 1.30pm on Monday to reports of a ‘jumper in the fountain’, with one person transported to Bellevue Hospital

Before the reflection pools were constructed, counterterrorism issued concerns that the sites could be an attraction for terrorist activity. 

Glenn P. Corbett, an associate professor of fire science at John Jay College, said: ‘Our big worry several years ago, in the original design, was terrorism, and now we add suicide to the equation.

‘I think it’s going to happen — a suicide. I think it is an unbelievably emotional site.’

The person who jumped from the monument had to climb over the bronze parapet inscribed with the names of those who died.

Once they have launched themself from the edge, there is another drop to the centre of the marble-covered memorial.  

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