Tube structure is actually very strong- the problem was with those floor trusses, being made of relatively thin steel compared to the heavier structural members of the outside perimeter and core. Once the floor trusses heated up and gave way, that broke the connections which held everything together. One New York Plaza suffered similar damage in a fire in 1970, what saved her was that the concrete floors over said trusses refused to give way.
It's been said that many other types of building structure would have collapsed immediately upon taking such a hit, let alone remained standing for an hour or an hour and a half.
As for where did they go, any building is about 90% air in terms of volume. And the sheer force of the collapse crushed the concrete in those buildings to dust, and squashed a lot of that steel. Those floor trusses, especially.
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"Build me to the heavens, and Life never stops"
"Live as if the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be"
-Angel
"Prayers are fleeting and wars are forgotten, but what is built endures"
-Ambassador DeLenn, Babylon 5
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