NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: The United States is marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, with ceremonies taking place at the World Trade Center site in New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed after al-Qaeda hijackers seized four passenger aircraft, crashing two into the World Trade Center towers and another into the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft, United Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to regain control from the hijackers.
At Ground Zero, relatives are again reading the names of those killed, accompanied by moments of silence marking the times the aircraft struck and the towers collapsed. This year’s ceremony also includes, for the first time, a formal moment of remembrance for people who later died from illnesses associated with exposure to toxic dust after the attacks.
President Donald Trump is attending commemorations at the Pentagon, while Vice President JD Vance is participating in the New York ceremony. Events are also being held across the country as part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
The anniversary comes a quarter-century after the attacks transformed American foreign and domestic policy, leading to the war in Afghanistan, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and a major expansion of counterterrorism and surveillance programmes.