People gather at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. Image: AFP via TRTWorld.
(The Post News) – New Yorkers are set to mark the 24th anniversary of the terror attacks that resulted in nearly 3,000 lives lost in the city, Washington, and Pennsylvania on September 11th, 2001.
New York, where the majority of victims were killed, will host its annual commemoration in Lower Manhattan. The ceremony will begin with a national moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the exact time the first plane struck the World Trade Center. Vice President JD Vance and his wife will then read aloud the names of the victims.
President Donald Trump and the First Lady are also expected to attend the highly guarded event, which follows the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk yesterday and the attempted assassination of Trump last year. After the ceremony, the president will head to the Bronx to attend the New York Yankees–Detroit Tigers baseball game on Thursday evening.
Earlier this week, the New York City Fire Department added 40 more names to the memorial for firefighters who died from illnesses linked to toxic dust and gases released during the collapse of the Twin Towers. With the new additions, 363 firefighters are now recognized for contracting cancers and serious respiratory illnesses following their rescue efforts, in addition to the 343 firefighters who died on the day of the attacks.
Throughout the week, numerous charity organizations across the city have been calling for volunteers to support families of victims. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, a similar commemoration event will be held near Shanksville.
What Happened in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania on 9/11?
On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda militants led by Osama bin Laden hijacked four American planes and launched coordinated attacks. Two aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing 2,606 people, including hundreds of emergency responders, as the skyscrapers caught fire and collapsed.
A third plane struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing 125 people. Passengers on the fourth flight fought back, forcing the hijacked plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field instead of reaching the U.S. Capitol. BBC reports that all 246 passengers and crew aboard the four planes were killed.
The attacks, carried out in retaliation for U.S. influence and intervention in Afghanistan, remain one of the deadliest terrorist strikes in history.
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