This September 11 marks 22 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, an event that majority of people in the US believed changed Americans’ lives forever.
On the morning of Sept. 11, United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11 departed from Boston en route to California before hijackers crashed them into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon, while passengers attempted to overtake United Airlines Flight 93 from hijackers before it crash-landed in Pennsylvania.
Initially, experts believed that either a pilot error or an aircraft problem caused the disaster. At 9:03 a.m. (EST), United Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, altering that. At 9:37 a.m. (EST), just 30 minutes later, American Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Soon later, United Flight 93 made a hard landing in Somerset County, Pennsylvania in an empty field. It was then clear that the US had experienced a string of deliberate terrorist assaults.
The 9/11 attacks left 2,977 dead across New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, according to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. That total includes the 2,753 who died after the planes struck the Twin Towers, 184 people at the Pentagon and 40 people who died when Flight 93 crash-landed in Pennsylvania.
Around 40% of the victims have yet to be identified, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). That’s about 1,106 people. In Sept. 2021, OCME identified the 1,646th and 1,647th victims with a DNA analysis – insurance broker Dorothy Morgan and a man whose identity has been withheld at the request of his family.
Ground Zero
Four new towers have been added to “Ground Zero,” as it is now known. The One World Trade Center, also known as the “Freedom Tower,” is the centerpiece. The building’s 1,776-foot (541-meter) height is a nod to the year the US declared its freedom. It is the tallest structure in both New York City and the Americas.
Next to the Freedom Tower is an elegant memorial with two reflecting pools. The names of all the 9/11 victims are etched into their bronze-paneled edges. The National September 11 Museum and Memorial, built alongside, houses several artifacts from the tragic day.
