Twenty-four years after the deadliest attack on U.S. soil, Americans are pausing to remember the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11. Ceremonies and events are taking place across the United States to mark the sombre anniversary of the 2001 al-Qaeda hijackings that forever changed the nation.

 

 

On the 11th of September, 2001, four hijacked passenger planes were used as weapons. Two crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, a third hit the Pentagon just outside Washington D.C., and a fourth went down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back.

 

 

The attacks killed 2,977 people, not including the 19 hijackers. The victims included citizens from 77 countries and 441 first responders in New York City. The U.S. response to the attacks included a military invasion of Afghanistan to dismantle al-Qaeda and hunt down its leader, Osama Bin Laden, who was killed in a 2011 raid in Pakistan.

 

 

Today’s commemorations include the annual reading of the victims’ names at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York, with moments of silence observed to mark the times the planes struck and the towers fell.