September 11 2001

World Trade Center

Terrorist attack
 September 11 2001
World Trade Center
Terrorist attack
TheSeptember 11 attacks(oftenreferredto
asSeptember 11,September 11thor9/11)wereaseriesof
coordinatedsuicideattacksbyal-QaedaupontheUnitedStateson
September11,2001.Onthatmorning,19al-Qaedaterrorists
hijackedfourcommercialpassengerjetairliners.Thehijackers
intentionallycrashedtwooftheairlinersintotheTwinTowersofthe
WorldTradeCenterinNewYorkCity,killingeveryoneonboardand
manyothersworkinginthebuildings.Bothtowerscollapsedwithin
twohours,destroyingnearbybuildingsanddamagingothers.The
hijackerscrashedathirdairlinerintoThePentagonin
Arlington,Virginia,justoutsideWashington,D.C.Thefourthplane
crashedintoafieldnearShanksvilleinruralPennsylvaniaafter
someofitspassengersandflightcrewattemptedtoretakecontrol
oftheplane,whichthehijackershadredirectedtowardWashington,
D.C.,totargeteithertheCapitolBuildingortheWhiteHouse.There
werenosurvivorsfromanyoftheflights.
Nearly3,000victimsandthe19hijackersdiedintheattacks.According
totheNewYorkStateHealthDepartment,836responders,including
firefightersandpolicepersonnel,havediedasofJune2009.[Among
the2,752victimswhodiedintheattacksontheWorldTradeCenter
were343firefightersand60policeofficersfromNewYorkCityandthe
PortAuthority.Another184peoplewerekilledintheattackonthe
Pentagon.Theoverwhelmingmajorityofcasualtieswerecivilians,
includingnationalsofover70countries.Inaddition,therewasatleast
onesecondarydeathonepersonwasruledbyamedicalexaminerto
havediedfromlungdiseaseduetoexposuretodustfromthecollapse
oftheWorldTradeCenter.
 Suspicionquicklyfellonal-Qaeda.ItsleaderOsamabinLadendenied
involvement,butin2004hefinallyclaimedresponsibilityfortheattacks.The
UnitedStatesrespondedtotheattacksbylaunchingtheWaronTerror,
invadingAfghanistantodeposetheTaliban,whohadharboredal-Qaeda
terrorists,andbyenactingtheUSAPATRIOTAct.ItwasnotuntilMay2011
thatbinLadenwasfoundandkilled.Manyothercountriesalsostrengthened
theiranti-terrorismlegislationandexpandedlawenforcementpowers.Some
Americanstockexchangesstayedclosedfortherestoftheweekfollowingthe
attack,andpostedenormouslossesuponreopening,especiallyintheairline
andinsuranceindustries.Thedestructionofbillionsofdollars'worthofoffice
spacecausedseriousdamagetotheeconomyofLowerManhattan.
ThedamagetothePentagonwasclearedandrepairedwithinayear,and
thePentagonMemorialwasbuiltadjacenttothebuilding.Therebuilding
processhasstartedontheWorldTradeCentersite.In2006,anewofficetower
wascompletedonthesiteof7WorldTradeCenter.ThenewOneWorldTrade
Centeriscurrentlyunderconstructionatthesiteandisexpectedtobe
completedin2013.Threemoretowerswereoriginallyexpectedtobebuilt
between2007and2012onthesite.GroundwasbrokenfortheFlight93
NationalMemorialonNovember8,2009,andthefirstphaseofconstructionis
expectedtobereadyforthe10thanniversaryoftheattacksonSeptember11,
2011.
OsamabinLaden