US marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks that killed 2,977 people

Main points

• The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people
• New York recorded 2,753 deaths
• Hundreds of first responders were among those killed

The United States on Friday, September 11, marked 25 years since the September 11 attacks, when hijacked passenger planes struck the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and another crashed in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people.

On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda hijackers seized four commercial aircraft. Two were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, a third hit the Pentagon in Virginia, and a fourth, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fought back.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum records 2,753 deaths in New York, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 aboard Flight 93. Those figures exclude the 19 hijackers.

The attacks unfolded rapidly. American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., and United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. and the North Tower at 10:28 a.m.

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First responders suffered heavy losses

Hundreds of emergency workers died after entering the World Trade Centre complex to evacuate civilians and respond to the attacks.

The New York City Fire Department lost 343 members, while 37 Port Authority Police Department officers and 23 New York City Police Department officers were killed. The 9/11 Memorial says nearly 1,000 firefighters were deployed to the World Trade Centre that day.

The Port Authority says its police officers mobilised across the World Trade Centre complex, with additional officers arriving from other locations in New York and New Jersey. The loss of 37 PAPD officers remains the largest single-day loss of life for a police force in US history.

A quarter-century of remembrance

The attacks destroyed the Twin Towers and the other buildings in the original World Trade Centre complex. Rescue, recovery and clean-up operations continued for months, with about 1.8 million tonnes of material eventually removed from the site. The operation formally ended on May 30, 2002.

Today, the National September 11 Memorial stands where the Twin Towers once stood. Its two reflecting pools occupy the footprints of the towers, with the names of those killed inscribed around them. Each year on September 11, relatives read aloud the victims' names during the commemoration in Lower Manhattan.

For the 25th anniversary in 2026, the Port Authority has also installed permanent markings inside the World Trade Centre's Oculus tracing the path of sunlight between 8:46 a.m., when the North Tower was struck, and 10:28 a.m., when it collapsed. The installation is intended to preserve the memory of the attacks for future generations.