Americans Commemorate 25th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks

On Friday, Americans observed the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. The deadliest assault on US soil involved hijacked planes striking the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. In New York, family members of victims, many holding photographs, gathered at ground zero in Lower Manhattan alongside Vice-President J.D. Vance and four former US presidents. The ceremony commenced at 8.46am with a moment of silence, marking the exact time American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Centre's North Tower. Subsequently, relatives read aloud the names of all 2,977 victims of the 2001 attacks and the six individuals killed in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. This recitation lasted for hours, with some readers being children who never met their lost relatives. Additional moments of silence followed, commemorating the crashes of the other three planes and the collapse of the two towers. The anniversary underscored the enduring grief and reflection on the attacks' lasting impact on US foreign and domestic policies.