September 11 Attacks: "102 Minutes That Changed Lives"

[Deepak Kiran]

9/11 attacks were one of the worst in history, which killed 3,000 Americans and others from different countries. Over 6,000 people were injured. The 9/11 attacks changed the global approach and strategy towards tackling terrorism and its
perpetrators.

The terror attack in 2001 on one of the then iconic sites in New York, the World Trade Centre, shook the United States and had a huge impact globally. 9/11 terror attacks, also called the September 11 attacks, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. "Nineteen years ago, under clear blue skies, 102 minutes changed our lives forever

 

[Deepak Kiran]

19 years of 9/11: Seven things you didn't know about September 11 attack

Nineteen years ago, terrorist attacks in the United States on this day changed the world at large.

On September 11, 2001, two planes were flown into the famous twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. 19 terrorists associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. The third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, DC, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The 9/11 attack triggered major US initiatives to combat terrorism.

19 years ago at 8.45 am on a Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north of World Trade Centre. The 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper was left burning and thousands of people lost their lives. Hundreds of people got trapped on the higher floors. 18 minutes later, a second Boeing 767 -United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of WTC and burnt a hole on the 60th floor. 9/11 attack was reportedly financed by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden.

September 11, 2001, led to a host of changes in the security outlook that included framing of new stringent laws at the expense of civil liberties, military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Pakistan resulting in the deaths of dictators Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, besides terrorist group Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

 

[Deepak Kiran]

 

[Deepak Kiran]

9/11 Attacks: 10 Facts

1. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four US passenger planes between 8 and 9 am
2. Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan
3. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon, the building that houses the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, in Virginia
4. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers tried to fight back
5. Within two hours, the two 110-storey towers at the World Trade Centre collapsed. The debris of the Twin Towers led to the collapse of other buildings in the complex
6. The clean-up of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002 and the Pentagon building was repaired within a year
7. The investigation into the 9/11 attacks - code-named "PENTTBOM" - was the FBI's largest investigation ever
8. More than half of the agents in FBI worked to identify the attackers and their supporters
9. It included over half-a-million investigative leads, including several hundred thousand tips from the public
10. The crash sites were also the largest crime scenes in FBI history

Several memorials have been built to remember the victims of September 11 attacks. These include the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, the Flight 93 National Memorial in a field in Stonycreek Township in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County in Virginia.