When did 9/11 happen? Who really blew up the twin towers in New York? How it happened
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This September 11, 2001 in the USA(in the West, simply 9/11) is considered the bloodiest in all of world history. The most media-covered event of all time.
10 years ago, three terrorist-controlled planes crashed into the Pentagon near Washington DC and into the 110-story skyscrapers of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, causing them to collapse. As a result of terrorist attacks, 2,977 citizens from 92 countries died.
According to the official version, the responsibility for these attacks lies with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Subsequently official version what happened was criticized by a number of journalists, scientists and witnesses of the tragedy.
Independent investigations were carried out, some of which were documented. According to one version, the attack on the twin towers was just a distraction, and customers should be sought not among Afghan terrorists and not in Osama bin Laden's lair, but much closer - surrounded by the US president.
The events of September 11, 2001 unfolded as follows. At about the same time, terrorists hijacked 4 airliners some time after departure.
1. Statue of Liberty. Manhattan is shrouded in smoke from the collapse of the World Trade Center skyscrapers. The photo was taken on September 15, 2001. (Photo by Dan Loh | AP):
At 08:45 am the first Boeing 767-200 crashed into the North Tower of the 110-story skyscrapers of the World Trade Center approximately at the level of 94-98 floors. 18 minutes later at 9:03 second plane Boeing 767-200 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center approximately at the level of 77-85 floors.
2. "A second before." The second plane approaches the South Tower of the World Trade Center, New York, 9:02, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Sean Adair | Reuters):
3. Second plane Boeing 767-200 Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center at the level of 77-85 floors, 9:03, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Sean Adair | Reuters):
4. There were 56 passengers (including 5 terrorists) and 9 crew members on board the 175th flight. (Photo by Spencer Platt | Getty Images):
5. Nearly 35 tons of aviation fuel explodes on impact. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
6. A hole in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in the place where the first one crashed, New York, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
After the capture, some passengers were able to report on satellite phones about what was happening. According to them, the terrorists used edged weapons (probably knives), resulting in the death of several flight attendants and crew members.
7. The twin towers of the World Trade Center after 2 airliners crashed into them. Ahead - Empire State Building, New York, Tuesday, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Marty Lederhandler | AP):
8. Satellite view of the burning skyscrapers of the World Trade Center in New York, 9:30, September 11, 2001. (Photo by USGS | AP):
9. People on the top floors of skyscrapers. They are locked in fire on the lower floors where the planes crashed. (Photo by Jose Jimenez | Primera Hora | Getty Images):
10. At least 200 people trapped on the top floors of the towers of the World Trade Center jumped down, preferring such death to death by fire. (Photo by Jose Jimenez | Primera Hora | Getty Images):
11. Their fall was observed by numerous witnesses. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
12. Some tried to get to the roofs of the towers, in the hope of evacuation by helicopters, but the evacuation did not take place: the smoke and heat from the fire made it impossible to use helicopters. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
13. Third plane Boeing 757-200 American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 am. This is a picture from a surveillance camera. (AP Photo):
14. Fire in the Pentagon building, after crashing into it. 125 people in the building and 60 passengers aboard the Boeing were killed. (Photo by Will Morris | AP):
16. Part of the Pentagon building collapsed. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque | Reuters):
18. Aim of the 4th aircraft Boeing 757-200 may have been the Capitol. According to Flight 93 voice recorder transcripts, the flight crew and passengers attempted to regain control of the airliner after they learned from mobile phones that other hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers. It is likely that the terrorists, who were losing the fight, decided to send the plane into the ground, where the crash occurred. The Boeing crashed into a field in southwestern Pennsylvania near Shanksville at 10:03 am. (Photo by Jason Cohn | Reuters):
19. The crash site of the 4th aircraft in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, near the city of Shanksville. (Photo FBI | AP):
20. But back to the burning skyscrapers of the World Trade Center. The main events unfolded there. (Photo by Mario Tama | Getty Images):
According to the official version, about an hour after the skyscrapers crashed into the skyscrapers, buildings collapsed as a result of fire and melting of the supporting steel structures by burning aviation fuel.
The official version has been criticized by many experts who believe that the use of aviation fuel to melt 200,000 tons of steel (the amount of steel in one Tower) is an amazing discovery.
Other theories call into question that the nature of the collapse of the WTC towers corresponds to that which could be caused by aircraft hits and fires. The destruction of the towers is said to be more like controlled demolition. It has also been suggested that the September 11, 2001 attacks were not planned and carried out by al-Qaeda, but by US intelligence agencies.
International opinion, according to a survey conducted in 17 countries, paints such a picture. Overall, 46% of those polled place the main responsibility on al-Qaeda, 15% on the US government, 7% on Israel, and another 7% name other perpetrators. We will not delve into this topic. Those interested in these events can find materials on the net.
21. 56 minutes after south tower the second plane crashed at 9:59 am it starts to break down, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Gulnara Samoilova | AP):
22. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
23. Collapse of the 110-story South Tower World Trade Center. View from the street, September 9, 2001. (Photo by Doug Kanter | AFP | Getty Images):
24. As in from dust and debris. (Photo by Gulnara Samoilova | AP):
25. 102 minutes after north tower the first plane crashed at 10:28 am it starts to break down, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Diane Bondareff | AP):
26. (Photo by Primera Hora | Getty Images):
27. The collapse of the 110-story skyscrapers of the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Greg Semendinger | AP):
28. A total of 2,606 people died at the World Trade Center. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton | Reuters):
29. 1366 people who were on the upper floors died north tower WTC, many of whom died when the plane collided with the tower, and the rest - due to fire and collapse. AT south tower at least 600 people died on the upper floors. At least 200 people trapped on the upper floors of the towers jumped down and crashed. (Photo by Greg Semendinger | AP):
30. On the streets of New York during the destruction of the WTC towers, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett | AP):
31. Clouds of smoke, dust and debris spread throughout Manhattan. (Photo by Ray Stubblebine | Reuters):
32. (Photo by Gulnara Samoilova | AP):
33. (Photo by Gulnara Samoilova | AP):
34. (Photo by Daniel Shanken | AP):
35. 341 firefighters, 60 police officers, and 8 ambulance workers died in the fire. (Photo by Mario Tama | Getty Images):
36. In total, about 18 people were able to leave the hit zone in the South Tower and escape. (Photo by Gulnara Samiolava | AP):
More than 1,600 bodies were identified in New York, but about 1,100 people could not be identified. It was reported that "about 10,000 fragments of bones and tissues were found at the site of the tragedy, which is incomparable with the number of dead."
38. The streets of Manhattan after the collapse of the "twins" of the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Boudicon One | AP):
39. On the site of the former 110-story World Trade Center, September 15, 2001. (Photo by Reuters):
40. The landing gear of one of the planes that crashed into the WTC buildings, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton | Reuters):
41. Search for possible survivors of the collapse of the "twins" of the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Matt Moyer | AP):
42. The fire is still blazing at the site of the former WTC, September 12, 2001, a day after. (Photo by Baldwin | AP):
45. In addition to the destruction of the two 110-story towers of the World Trade Center, other buildings were seriously damaged or destroyed. As a result of the collapse of skyscrapers, about 1.5 kilometers of New York subway lines were damaged. Photo AP):
46. Rescuers work in the underground facilities of the collapsed World Trade Center, September 14, 2011. (Photo by U.S. Navy | Reuters):
The ongoing events have caused chaos throughout the United States. All commercial flights were canceled, landing of aircraft in the United States was prohibited. Aircraft arriving from other countries were diverted back to their departure airports, or were directed to airports in Canada and Mexico. Air Force fighters patrolled over major US cities.
47. The ruins of the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Doug Kanter | AFP | Getty Images):
On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people (not including 19 terrorists) became victims: 246 passengers and crew members of aircraft, 2,606 people - in New York, in the WTC buildings and on the ground, 125 - in the Pentagon building. Citizens of the United States and 91 other countries died, including 96 citizens of Russia and the CIS.
When the skyscrapers of the World Trade Center were destroyed, about 16,000 people were saved, who were in the towers below the impact zone of the aircraft. Most of them survived, being evacuated before the destruction of buildings.
A memorial complex was erected on the site of the collapsed twin towers. Currently, the complex is being reconstructed, which is planned to be completed by 2012.
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Having received no support in Congress, the head of state in early March 2011 ordered the resumption of military trials against suspected terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay prison.
In early April 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that defendant Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants in the 9/11 case would not appear before a US civilian court, but before a special military commission at Guantanamo Bay.
On May 31, 2011, the US Military Attorney's Office again charged five suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On May 5, 2012, a military tribunal officially charged five suspects with involvement in organizing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States. They are accused of organizing a conspiracy, attacking civilians, intentionally causing physical harm, murder, violating the laws of war, causing destruction, hijacking and terrorism.
All five defendants refused to answer whether they plead guilty.
New York District Judge George Daniels ruled in absentia, ordering Iran to pay $7.5 billion to the families and other members of those who died at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The judge determined that the Iranian authorities must pay another three billion to insurers who covered property damage and other material losses. Earlier, Judge Daniels ruled that Tehran could not prove its non-involvement in assisting the organizers of the attack, and therefore the Iranian authorities bear a share of responsibility for the damage caused during it.
On the site of the destroyed Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2011 was the World Trade Center Memorial. It consists of two square pools-fountains located right at the bases of the former twin towers, along the inner walls of which streams of water cascade down, leaving into square holes located at the bottom of each of the pools.
The names of the 2,983 victims of the attacks (including the six who died in the 1993 World Trade Center attack) are carved on the bronze slabs that line the parapets of both fountains.
The new World Trade Center complex was opened. It is the fourth tallest skyscraper in the world - its height is 541 meters. Construction began in April 2006 on the corner of a 65,000-square-meter site where the twin towers of the demolished mall used to stand.
Celebrated in the United States as Patriot Day, since 2009, after the approval of Act 111-13 of the General Law of the United States, this date is also referred to as the nationwide Day of Service and Remembrance.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
September 11, 2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States, unprecedented in world history. The tragedy claimed the lives of almost three thousand people.
19 terrorists - citizens of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon - hijacked 4 passenger airliners. Two planes were sent to the skyscrapers of the World Trade Center in New York, the third airliner crashed into the Pentagon building. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania - its passengers and crew tried to take control of the airliner from the terrorists.
The victims of the attacks were 2977 people from 92 countries: 246 passengers and crew members of the aircraft, 2606 people in New York, in the WTC buildings and on the ground (including 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics of the New York Fire Department, 60 police officers and 8 employees "ambulance"), 125 people - in the Pentagon building.
As a result of the attacks, the 110-story twin towers collapsed. Work to clear the World Trade Center area lasted more than eight months. Burning and smoldering in the rubble at the site of the collapsed twin towers continued for 99 days before the fire was completely extinguished.
Chronicle of the tragedy 9/11
The moment of the collision of the first plane with the skyscraper of the shopping center. Video: Youtube
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Passers-by on the streets of New York point to the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
People look out of the windows of the North Tower. September 11, 2001 
The President of the United States is introduced to schoolchildren, after which George W. Bush begins to read The Pet Goat to them. At that moment, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card approaches him and reports: “The second plane crashed into the second tower. America is under attack." September 11, 2001 
People watch the collapse of one of the WTC towers. September 11, 2001 
Rescuers carry a mortally wounded man out of the destroyed WTC building. September 11, 2001 
The burning towers of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
A helicopter circles over the burning Pentagon after one of the hijacked planes crashed into the building. September 11, 2001 
A group of firefighters among the wreckage of the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
A helicopter is circling near one of the WTC towers. September 11, 2001 
In the background is the smoldering World Trade Center building. September 11, 2001 
Medical staff at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York awaiting casualties. September 11, 2001 
A firefighter among the rubble at the foot of the destroyed World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
The damaged wing of the Pentagon. September 11, 2001 
A firefighter calls for help at the ruins of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
Firefighters clear the rubble of the World Trade Center. September 11, 2001 
Car wrecks near the World Trade Center complex. September 11, 2001 
US President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney at the Presidential Emergency Control Center in Washington, September 11, 2001 
US President George W. Bush speaks on the rubble of the World Trade Center. September 14, 2001
Survivor stories
Fred Eichler
On September 11, 2001, 54-year-old insurance agent Fred Eichler came to his office on the 83rd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:15 am. At 8:40 a.m. Fred went to the bathroom, but on the way he met four colleagues and they stopped to chat. Through the window they saw a plane flying towards their building. At 8:46 a.m., the airliner crashed into a skyscraper, destroying everything in its path. The shock wave threw Fred and his colleagues several tens of meters away. After recovering, the man called 911 and then phoned home to talk to his wife, daughters and parents. He was sure he would never see them again.
Fred entered the meeting room and was joined by three strangers. The floor was gradually covered with smoke, streams of water from broken pipes rushed along the corridors and stairs. The crowd stuffed the gap under the door with wet rugs and towels, trying to stop the smoke. After conferring, they decided not to open the windows, fearing that the air would fan the flames.
At 9.02 a second blow was heard: the plane crashed into the neighboring South Tower. Fred and the others decided to try to climb the fire escape. But when they got to the door, the lights went out in the building. They returned to the meeting room and hid under the tables.
At 9.30 Fred saw the light of a flashlight. A fireman arrived on their floor. He was able to save the found people, but he himself died. The rescuer led the survivors to the stairs and advised on the 78th floor to go to another staircase and go down it. On the 20th floor, they heard a new bang sound. The whole building shook as the South Tower collapsed. The northern one began to tremble - the elevators fell into the shafts, the stairs swayed. When Fred got outside, he asked someone for a phone and dialed his wife's number. She screamed into the phone: “Run, run, run!” Firemen and police shouted the same thing. A few minutes later, the North Tower collapsed.
Michael Wright
Michael Wright, 30, was on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the plane crashed into the building.
At that moment, Michael was in the men's room, where they were setting up a sign asking them to keep the room clean. The building shook. When Wright looked out of the toilet into the corridor, he saw fire and heard a woman scream - his colleague Alicia could not get out of the burning women's toilet. The men broke down the door and were able to pull the woman out.
There was a huge crack in the floor of the corridor, the hall near the elevator was completely destroyed, there was smoke everywhere. Michael began to lead his colleagues to the stairs, people descended like during a fire drill - in two rows.
“The thought of the unreality of what was happening helped to keep calm on the stairs, it seemed that the building could not collapse. As we climbed a few floors, we relaxed a bit. We understood that something bad had happened, but when the fire remained thirty floors above, it was no longer so disturbing, ”recalls Wright. According to him, people passed some floors quickly, others within 10 minutes.
On the 40th floor, Michael and his colleagues met firefighters who advised them to keep going down, assuring them that it was safe. Having descended below the level of the 20th floor, Wright got to the site of the South Tower and realized the seriousness of what was happening: there were corpses everywhere, dozens of bodies.
When the building began to collapse, Wright and his colleagues were at the escalator at one of the exits from the building. A cloud of debris and dust rose, the air seemed to turn black. Michael tore off his shirt and covered her nose and mouth with it. Seeing no direction, he crawled, trying to find a way out.
Michael was lucky - he stumbled upon a fireman who was able to take him through the surviving bookstore building.
Reaching the phone, Michael called his wife Jenny.
“I said, 'Jenny, it's me.' There was a groan from the other end of the tube. I said, "I'm alive. I'm alive. I love you. I love you". We cried and wept. Then the connection was cut off, ”says Michael Wright.
Frank Razzano
On the morning of September 11, famed American lawyer Frank Razzano was sleeping in his suite on the 19th floor of the Marriott Hotel, located at the foot of the World Trade Center Twin Towers. He was awakened by the sound of the first blow, saw papers flying outside the window, and went back to bed. A few minutes later there was a second blow. The plane crashed into the South Tower, which overlooked Frank's windows. Razzano turned on the TV and heard the news. He still thought that there was nothing to worry about, because all the problems of the floors were 60 higher. The firemen will come and everything will be all right.
Frank took a shower, dressed, packed his things and suddenly felt as if the hotel was being fired from heavy artillery: it was the South Tower that began to fall apart. Through the window, the lawyer saw mountains of concrete and steel falling from the sky, as if in slow motion. He ran to the opposite side of the room and pressed himself against the wall.
Suddenly, the rumbling stopped. Razzano looked out into the corridor and shouted: "Is anyone alive?" Someone said, "Come here." The fireman directed Razzano to the stairs. Falling, the tower broke through the hotel in the middle, but the far staircase remained intact. Razzano followed it to the third floor, and there, together with a group of people, climbed through a hole in the wall to the second floor. A few minutes later, the North Tower collapsed, filling up the remains of the hotel. Several lower floors remained intact.
That's where Razzano was. There was nothing to breathe: the air seemed to consist of nothing but dirt and dust. People still managed to find an opening in the destroyed wall of the building, and with the help of a carpet path, go down to the mountain of debris. There, the police helped Razzano get to the doctors.
Pascal Bazzeli
43-year-old design engineer Pascal Bazzeli was in the elevator of the North Tower when the first impact was heard. The elevator stopped at the 44th floor, and Pascal saw people panicking, but decided to go up to his office on the 64th floor anyway. He called his pregnant wife and asked her to turn on the TV and find out what was wrong. When she told him what was going on, Buzzeli and his colleagues surrounded the television in the office themselves and saw the plane fly into the nearby tower. They rushed to the stairs and managed to get down to the 22nd floor when the building began to fall.
Buzzeli turned out to be an incredibly lucky man - curled up, he rolled down the wreckage 15 floors down like a surfer on a huge wave and, most amazingly, survived with a broken leg. All his colleagues died.
On the way down, Bazzeli lost consciousness and woke up three hours later on the ruins of the seventh floor.
Ron DiFrancesco
On the morning of September 11, broker Ron DiFrancesco, 37, was working in his office on the 84th floor of the South Tower. At this time, a plane crashed into the North Tower. Seeing the smoke, DiFrancesco decided to get out of the building and left the office. A few minutes after he left, the plane crashed into the South Tower - between the 77th and 85th floors.
Going down, DiFrancesco met a group of people who began to persuade him to go to the roof - they said that the fire below was too strong, and there should be fresh air above.
Ron tried to go up a few floors, but all the doors were closed or blocked. Panic intensified, breathing became increasingly difficult, and DiFrancesco finally decided to go down. He made it to the landing in the impact zone and lay down on the floor, among other people choking. He began to panic. But some voice in his head, says Ron, ordered him to run downstairs. Covering his face with his hands, he fled to the first floor, where the guard sent him to another exit and, already running out of the door, DiFrancesco heard a deafening roar above - the building began to collapse.
Seeing the explosion, the broker lost consciousness and woke up already in the hospital - with burns and a fracture of the spine.
According to official records, he was the last person to leave the building before the collapse and one of four surviving Americans who worked above the 81st floor but were able to escape.
John McLaughlin, the last to be saved
When the plane crashed into the South Tower, Sgt. John McLaughlin was a few miles from the mall, patrolling the bus station in Manhattan. Like many, that day he went to the towers to help the victims.
Arriving at the scene of the tragedy and still not knowing the extent of the damage to the World Trade Center, McLaughlin assembled a team of four people - three policemen Antonio Rodriguez, Chris Amoroso, Dominic Petsullo, and recruit Will Gimeno.
They were on the ground floor connecting the buildings of the World Trade Center complex when the South Tower collapsed. The police were covered in rubble.
“At first I thought I was dead. I didn't feel anything: I didn't see, I didn't smell, I didn't hear. There was a ringing silence around, ”recalls John McLaughlin.
Officers Amoroso and Rodriguez died immediately. McLaughlin and the two remaining members of his team were trapped. Dominic Petsullo managed to free himself from the rubble and tried to save his colleagues when the North Tower collapsed: he was mortally wounded by debris.
McLaughlin and Will Gimeno, lying under the rubble, heard the voices of rescuers and firefighters.
“I heard screams and screamed too, but it was useless. I said then: “I don’t think they will look for us. There's too much going on upstairs. They are already busy,” McLaughlin recalls.
He reached for the radio and left a final message for his family, as well as for Will's wife, who was seven months pregnant.
“I think the moment when Will asked to be passed on to his wife to name their unborn daughter Olivia was the worst. I think that then we kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that we would die here, ”says the sergeant.
The men spent more than 10 hours under the rubble before help arrived. At about 11 pm, rescuers managed to pull Jimeno out. Firefighters got to McLaughlin only on the morning of September 12 - he had to wait another 8 hours for his rescue.
The sergeant was sent to the hospital, where the doctors at first did not believe that he would survive - the injuries were very serious. Doctors put John in a coma for 6 weeks, he underwent about 30 operations, including skin grafting on his legs. After several years of therapy, he was able to return to a normal life.
John McLaughlin was the last person to be pulled out from under the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Causes and perpetrators of the tragedy
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. The large-scale terrorist attack was a consequence of the declared jihad against Jews and Americans, and the American policy of supporting Israel, aggression against Iraq, as well as the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia were also named as reasons. Al-Qaeda accused America of "plundering" the region, oppressing the people by supporting totalitarian regimes, and controlling the policies of the legitimate rulers of the Arab countries.
The identities of all the suicide bombers were established - they were citizens of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. It turned out that the men were in the United States legally, and some were trained in American flight schools. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden admitted in a video message that he directly directed the actions of 19 terrorists.
On May 2, 2011, in the northwest of Pakistan, the "terrorist number one" was the US intelligence services. The operation to eliminate bin Laden was watched live by US President Barack Obama and his team.
US President Barack Obama and his team are monitoring the operation to eliminate Osama bin Laden. Photo: White House press office In May 2012, at the Guantanamo base, the trial of the mastermind and main organizer of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was detained in 2003 in Pakistan, began. The verdict is still pending.
The attack that changed the world
In October 2001, the United States and Britain launched a military operation in Afghanistan to destroy the bases of al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden. The operation lasted 13 years - most of the US military and NATO forces left this country only at the end of 2014, but about 8,000 US military personnel still remain in Afghanistan to "maintain peace and order."
9/11 triggered yet another military conflict. A year after the terrorist attack on the United States, the US government accused Iraq and Saddam Hussein's regime of resuming the development of weapons of mass destruction and of collaborating with al-Qaeda. On February 5, 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered his famous speech at a special meeting of the UN Security Council. In his speech, Powell said that Iraq is working on programs to create biological and chemical weapons and has two of the three necessary components for the production of nuclear weapons.
In 2004, Powell admitted that the data he released was largely inaccurate and sometimes falsified. But it was too late - on March 20, 2003, the US and allies invaded Iraq in violation of the UN Charter, and the war was already in full swing. Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006, but coalition forces left Iraq only in 2011.
These wars have become one of the reasons for the radicalization of Islamists in the Middle East. After the destruction of bin Laden, al-Qaeda is limited to the tactics of declarative statements, which, as a rule, are not associated with specific terrorist attacks. But one branch of the group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, eventually became the Islamic State terrorist organization. It was the Islamic State group that captured part of Libya, Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate on the occupied lands. And it is the Islamic State that is responsible for the high-profile terrorist attacks of recent years.
Material prepared on the basis of open sources
Ten years ago, a tragedy occurred in New York that forever changed the lives of millions of people around the world. All these ten years, we learn more and more details about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, but no one dares to say that it became clear to the end what and why happened on the morning of that autumn day in the largest city in the United States.We decided to acquaint our readers with an article published on the website of the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, which contains facts that allow us to better understand and feel the horror of the tragedy, symbolized by the two numbers 9/11.
1. The number of children who lost their parents as a result of the tragic events of September 11 was 3051. 17 children were born later to women who lost their husbands during the terrorist attack. Nine months after the attack, the birth rate in New York was 20% higher than a year earlier.
2. According to studies, alcohol consumption in New York in the weeks after the attack was 25% higher than a year earlier. Tobacco use rose by 10%, marijuana by 3.2%, and church and synagogue attendance by 20%.
3. The total value of the works of art lost as a result of the attack exceeds $100 million. Among the lost masterpieces - a series of paintings Entablature by Roy Lichtenstein (Roy Lichtenstein), the work of Pablo Picasso and David Hockney (David Hockney), many other author's items, interior elements and so on.
4. One of the unknown heroes of the day was the guide dog, Labrador Roselle, who led her blind owner Michael Hingson from the 78th floor of the North Tower to his friend's house. The dog recently died.
5. It took firefighters 100 days to put out all the fires caused by the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC).
6. The parents of 22-year-old Lisa Ann Frost, who was on United Flight 175, waited almost a year before rescuers sifting through the debris at the crash site could find anything that belonged to their daughter. Only 291 bodies were found not divided into fragments.
7. In total, workers had to sift through more than 1 million tons of structural debris and debris in search of remains and objects belonging to the victims of the terrorist attack. They found 437 watches and 144 wedding rings.
8. Three hours before the attack on the World Trade Center, at Princeton University, a system called the Random Event Generator issued a message about an imminent catastrophic event.
9. The section of the Pentagon building that was hit by the hijacked plane was reconstructed shortly before the attack, during which the walls and windows of the mission were especially reinforced. Some windows near the impact zone remained intact.
10. The top four Google searches in the week of the attack were (in descending order): Nostradamus, CNN, The World Trade Center, Osama bin Laden.
11. The best seller in America in 2001 was a novel called Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
12. When the leader of the terrorist group, Mohamed Atta, passed through control at the Boston airport on the morning of September 11, the security information system responded to his name and the terrorist's luggage did not get on the plane.
13. Hundreds of monuments, flagpoles and crucifixes around the world are made from metal taken at the site of the terrorist attack. In particular, a monument was made from the metal of the North Tower in the city of Padua, in Italy.
14. The personnel of the US airspace defense system (NORAD - the North American Aerospace Defense Command), a week before the attack, conducted exercises in which officers practiced the situation of the capture of four aircraft by terrorists. Another round of training was scheduled for the morning of September 11th.
15. Six months before the attack, a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center buildings was purchased for $3.2 billion by Larry Silverstein's real estate development firm. He is currently restoring an office and shopping center next to the memorial complex and museum.
16. At the beginning of this year, the number of victims of the September 11 terrorist attack increased by one and reached 2,753 people. A medical center in New York concluded that Jerry Borg, an accountant and part-time actor, died in late 2010 from a lung disease caused by dust from the ruins of the World Trade Center.
17. Five terrorists lived and prepared for the hijacking, just before the attack, in a motel located near the US National Security Agency (National Security Agency).
18. The black boxes of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon were found on September 12, 2001. According to US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld later, the voice recording data from one of these boxes could not be read. It is believed that this is the only case in 40 years when information could not be found on the recording device from the nose compartment of the aircraft.
19. During the collapse of the WTC towers, a store was destroyed where they sold the Koran and there was a prayer room for Muslims.
20. John Patrick O'Neill, an FBI special agent who investigated the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the activities of al-Qaeda, left the service due to disagreements with his superiors. Later, he took the position of chief of security at the World Trade Center, where he died on September 11, 2001.
21. Scientists used a three-day ban on air flights over the US after September 11 in order to study the impact of jet aircraft on the climate. They found that during these three days it was somewhat warmer during the day and somewhat colder than usual at night. The researchers saw the reason for this in the traces that jet engines leave in the atmosphere and which are actually artificial clouds. During intensive flights, these traces reflect part of the sunlight during the day, and at night, on the contrary, retain heat.