9/11 Attacks: What Happened in the United States That Day in 2001 and Beyond?

WASHINGTON: SEPT. 11 – Thousands of people were killed when suicide bombers stormed two New York skyscrapers on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

The attack is the most tragic of the century, not only for Americans but for the entire world.

Who was the target?

Four planes flying over the eastern United States were hijacked one after the other.

The three were then hit by key “controlled missiles” at key buildings in New York and Washington.

Two planes struck the World Trade Center in New York.

The first plane struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. local time (13:46 GMT). The second plane crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. local time.

The buildings were on fire and people were trapped upstairs, and the city was covered in thick smoke.

In less than two hours, both buildings on the 110th floor collapsed and turned into huge piles of dust and rubble.

At 9:37 a.m., a third plane damaged the western facade of the Pentagon, the US military headquarters, just outside the capital, Washington DC.

A fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted. The hijackers are believed to have used the plane to attack the US House of Representatives.

How many people lost their lives?

In addition to the 19 abductors, 2,977 people lost their lives in these incidents. Most of them were killed in New York.

• All 246 people, including crew members and passengers onboard the four planes, were killed
• Injuries to the Twin Towers killed 26,06 people immediately and later
• 125 killed at Pentagon

The youngest to die was two-year-old Kristin Lee Henson. He died on a plane with his father Peter and mother Susa.

The eldest was 82-year-old, Robert Norton. He was going to attend a wedding with his wife Jacqueline.

An estimated 17,400 people were believed to be inside the tower when the first plane crashed.

No one from the area above the North Tower survived, while 18 people from the area above the South Tower managed to escape.

Among the dead were citizens of 77 different countries. New York lost 444 emergency rescuers.

Thousands of people were injured and many, including firefighters, later succumbed to health complications due to the deadly debris that came out of the attack.

Who were the invaders?

Al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist network, planned the deadly attacks from Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, used to blame the United States and its allies for the conflict in Muslim countries.

The 19 people involved in the abduction were divided into three groups of five and one group of four.

Each group consisted of one pilot. Such training was conducted at aviation training centres in the United States.

Like bin Laden, 15 of the abductors were from Saudi Arabia.

Two were from the United Arab Emirates, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon.

How did the US react?

Less than a month after the attack, President George W. Bush, along with an international coalition, invaded Afghanistan to eliminate al Qaeda and locate bin Laden.

U.S. forces have not been able to locate bin Laden for some time.

But in 2011, he was killed by US forces in neighbouring Pakistan.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was arrested in 2003 in Pakistan. He has since been held in US custody at Guantanamo Bay and is awaiting trial.

Al-Qaeda still exists. It has a strong presence in sub-Saharan Africa and now has members inside Afghanistan.

Nearly two decades after US troops withdrew from Afghanistan this year, concerns have been raised about the return of the Islamist network.

Legacy of September 11

Flight safety around the world was strengthened after the attack.

A separate body called the Transportation Security Administration was established in the United States to strengthen airport and aircraft security.

It took more than eight months to clean up “Ground Zero” where two towers collapsed.

There is now a memorial centre and a museum, and buildings with new designs.

The height of the newly built One World Trade Center or “Freedom Tower” is 1,776 feet, which is 1,368 feet higher than the actual height of the North Tower.

It took less than a year to rebuild the Pentagon. Employees returned to their offices in August 2002.

-BBC