Today marks 21 years since September 11, 2001, when nineteen men hijacked four fuel-laden U.S. commercial airliners bound for various destinations on the West Coast. A total of 2,977 people died in the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attack was orchestrated by al-QaedaOsama bin Laden.
The victims
At the World Trade Center (WTC), 2,753 people died when hijacked American Airlines Flight 175 and United Airlines Flight 175 were intentionally crashed into the North and South Towers, destroying one of New York's main symbols, the world-famous Twin Towers.
Of those who perished during the initial attacks and subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were city police officers, and 37 were Port Authority agents.
The victims ranged in age from two to 85 years old. Approximately 75-80% of the victims were male.
At the Pentagon in Washington, 184 people died when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building.
Near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93 died when the plane crashed into a field. It is believed that the hijackers crashed the plane there, instead of their unknown target, after passengers and crew attempted to regain control of the flight deck.
As of July 2019, 1,644 (60%) of the 2,753 remains of WTC victims had been identified, according to the medical examiner's office.
Chronology of events
– 8:46 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 11 (traveling from Boston to Los Angeles) strikes the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
– 9:03 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 175 (traveling from Boston to Los Angeles) strikes the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
– 9:37 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 77 (traveling from Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles) strikes the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C.
– 9:59 a.m. — The South Tower of the WTC collapses in approximately 10 seconds.
– 10:03 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 93 (traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco) crashes in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
– 10:28 a.m. — The North Tower of the WTC collapses. The time between the first attack and the collapse of both World Trade Center towers is 102 minutes.
December 13, 2001 — The United States government releases a video in which Osama bin Laden takes responsibility for the attacks.
December 18, 2001 — Congress passes a measure to allow the president to designate September 11 as "Patriot Day" on each anniversary of the attacks.
December 2001 to June 15, 2004 — The original Victims Compensation Fund processed death and injury claims from relatives of the September 11 victims. Families of those killed had until December 22, 2003, to apply for compensation. The fund reopened in 2011.
May 24, 2007 — New York's chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, rules that the 2002 death of Felicia Dunn-Jones, from dust exposure, is directly related to the 9/11 attack and is therefore a homicide.
July 19, 2007 — The New York City Medical Examiner's Office announces that the remains of three more people have been identified. 1,133 victims, 41% of the total, remain unidentified.
January 2009 — The medical examiner's office rules that Leon Heyward, who died the previous year from lymphoma and lung disease, is a homicide victim because he was caught in the cloud of toxic dust just after the towers collapsed.
January 2, 2011 — President Barack Obama signs the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, reopening and expanding the scope of the Victim Compensation Fund.
June 17, 2011 — The New York medical examiner rules that Jerry Borg's death on December 15, 2010, was the result of inhaling toxic substances from the dust cloud generated by the collapse of the Twin Towers.
May 10, 2014 — The unidentified remains of those killed in the attacks are returned to the World Trade Center site, where they will be stored in a repository under the jurisdiction of the New York City Chief Medical Examiner's Office.
August 7, 2017 — The New York City Medical Examiner's Office announces that the remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center have been positively identified due to the availability of more sophisticated DNA testing.
2019 – The New York City medical examiner's office identifies the remains of three victims through DNA testing.
Compensation fund
The original September 11 Victim Compensation Fund operated from December 2001 to June 2004.
It initially received 7,408 applications for death and personal injury claims, and awarded compensation in 5,560 of those cases.
The reopened and expanded fund has been operating since January 2, 2011. Information on total compensation is regularly updated and published. Families who accepted compensation from the federal fund agreed not to sue the airlines.
Economic impact
US$ 500,000 — This is the estimated amount of money it is believed to have cost to plan and execute the September 11 attacks.
US$123 billion — This is the estimated economic loss during the first 2-4 weeks after the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York, as well as the decrease in air travel in the following years.
US$60 billion — That's the estimated cost of the damage to the WTC site, including damage to surrounding buildings, infrastructure and subway facilities.
US$40 billion — This is the value of the emergency anti-terrorism package approved by the United States Congress on September 14, 2001.
US$15 billion — That was the economic aid package approved by Congress to rescue the airlines.
US$9.3 billion — That's the amount of insurance claims stemming from the September 11 attacks.
Cleanup at Ground Zero
May 30, 2002 — The cleanup at Ground Zero officially ends. It took 3.1 million man-hours to clear 1.8 million tons of debris. The total cost of the cleanup was $750 million.
National security
The Department of Homeland Security was created in response to 9/11. It merged 22 government agencies into one, including Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Through the Container Security Initiative, more than 80% of imported containerized cargo is prescreened before entering the United States.
March 12, 2002 — The National Security Advisory System is introduced.
April 26, 2011 — The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) replaces the color-coded Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS).
Source: CNN
