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The World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001
(This report was first published on September 11, 2021. We are republishing this report on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.)
September 11, 2001 was Tuesday. The world’s most dangerous extremist attack took place on this day.
Extremists had crashed two American passenger planes into two skyscrapers of the World Trade Tower in New York.
Thousands of people died in this accident.
This accident shocked not only America but the entire world.
Since then it has been counted among the world’s most feared accidents.
What things were targeted?
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That day, four passenger planes were hijacked by suicide bombers in Eastern America.
After this he used it to attack the most famous buildings of New York and Washington.
Two planes collided with two buildings of the World Trade Center in New York.
The first plane hit the north tower at 8:46 am local time, while the second plane hit the south tower at 9:03 am.
Due to this accident, both the buildings caught fire. People were trapped in the upper floors and the entire city was filled with smoke.
Within two hours the 110-storey building completely collapsed and was reduced to rubble.
A little later, at 9:37 pm, the third plane hit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Defense Department, located a short distance from Washington DC.
While the fourth plane crashed in the plains of Pennsylvania at 10:30.
It is believed that the extremists were going to attack the Capitol Building of Washington DC with this plane.
how many people died
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A total of 2,977 people (except 19 extremists) died in this accident, most of them died in New York.
- A total of 246 passengers and crew members were on board these four planes, all of them died.
- 2,606 people died in the collapse of both buildings of the World Trade Tower.
- 125 people died in the attack on the Pentagon.
The youngest person to die in these accidents was Kristin Lee Hanson, two-year-old Hanson died with her parents on board the plane.
While the oldest member was 82-year-old Robert Norton, who was going to attend a wedding with his wife Jacqueline.
When the first plane hit the World Trade Tower, according to a rough estimate, about 17,400 people were present in the building.
No one above the North Tower where the plane hit survived. Whereas in the South Tower, only 18 people survived on the floors above where the plane hit.
Citizens of 77 countries were among those killed. Apart from this, 441 people also died due to debris in New York City.
Thousands of people were injured in this attack or fell ill later. Fire fighters were also included in these.
Who were the attackers?
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Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda had carried out these attacks from Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had held America and friendly countries responsible for the conflict that broke out in Muslim countries.
19 Al Qaeda attackers had carried out this accident. Three groups had five attackers each, while the fourth team (the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania) included four attackers.
Of these 19, 15 extremists were from Saudi Arabia, while two were members of the United Arab Emirates. One extremist each from Egypt and Lebanon was part of the suicide squad.
How did America respond after the accident?
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Within a month of the September 11 attacks, then US President George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan to eliminate Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
America also got help from other countries in this campaign.
Nearly ten years later, in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by American soldiers in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged strategist of the September 11 attacks, was detained in Pakistan in 2002. Since then he has been kept in America’s Guantanamo Bay prison. His hearing has not started yet.
Al Qaeda is still active today. Now it is stronger in the sub-Saharan region of Africa but its members are also present in Afghanistan.
After 20 years, American soldiers returned from Afghanistan last month. After this, the world fears that Islamic extremists may become active again.
Things that changed after the September 11 attacks
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After the September 11 attacks, security arrangements for airplanes increased significantly.
In America, a special squad, Transportation Security Administration, was formed to investigate airports and planes.
It took more than eight months to remove the debris of the World Trade Tower in New York. A memorial and museum have been built at that place and the building has been re-erected there in a different design.
The World Trade Center building is now called Freedom Tower. This earlier building is approximately 400 feet taller than the North Tower’s height of 1368 feet, i.e. 1776 feet tall.
Whereas the destroyed part of the Pentagon was rebuilt within a year and the department employees started sitting there from August 2002.
