It will forever be etched on our memory – this image of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York transforming into two columns of fire and smoke, and later, death.
It was a haunting scene not just for Americans but also for everyone across the world where the shocking images of the catastrophe rolled on television: of two commercial airplanes each hitting the North and South towers of the World Trade Center; of bodies falling from the sky; of shocked New Yorkers running for their lives, screaming, crying, unsure where to go next.
In Virginia, a commercial plane also crashed on the same day into the southwest corner of the Pentagon, the military headquarters of the United States, while another crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to take over the plane from hijackers.
Almost 3,000 people were killed, and more than 2,000 were injured that day, not to mention the massive devastation the attacks left in New York and other states.
Nineteen terrorists from the terrorist group al-Qaeda were behind the September 11, 2001 attacks masterminded by Osama bin Laden, who was killed 10 years later in a firefight with US commandos in Pakistan.
It was a plan that took several years in the making – its blueprint found in documents when the Bojinka plot was uncovered in the Philippines in 1995. The Bojinka plot meant to assassinate Pope John Paul II when he visited the Philippines in 1995.
The tragedy of 9/11 was so immense that even after 20 years, its effects on travel and security, among others, are still felt until now – a turning point in history, as a Netflix documentary calls it.
In this video, Rappler takes you back to that Tuesday morning on September 11, 2001, when day suddenly turned into night for America. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel?
