September 11 attacks

For the emergency telephone number, see 9-1-1.

View of the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty.

The September 11, 2001 attacks, shortened as nine-eleven, 9/11 or "9-11", were four attacks by terrorists that happened on the same day. By the official account, people in the group al-Qaeda took control of four airplanes. They crashed three of the airplanes into buildings in the United States on purpose. Nearly 3,000 people died.

Airplanes

1. American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York at 8:46 a.m. local time (Eastern Daylight Time, 12:46:30 UTC).
2. United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center at 9:02:59 a.m. local time (13:02:59 UTC). Many people saw this as it happened because television news cameras were filming the site of the first crash when the second airplane hit the south tower.
3. American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia (near Washington DC), at 9:37:46 a.m. local time (13:37:46 UTC).
4. United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into the ground at 10:03:11 a.m. local time (14:03:11 UTC). It is believed that the terrorists wanted to crash the plane into the United States Capitol. The passengers tried to take over the plane. They stopped the terrorists from taking full control of the plane but could not save it. The plane ended up crashing near the town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Outcome

Ground zero: The remains of the World Trade Center

File:World trade center new york city demolition street flickr.jpg

People running from the cloud of dust caused by the towers falling

All 246 people on the four planes died in the crashes. 19 terrorists were also killed in the attacks. Both towers of the World Trade Center caught on fire after the crashes. The south tower (2 WTC) burned for 56 minutes before it fell and was destroyed. The north tower (1 WTC) burned for 102 minutes before it also fell. As the towers fell, parts of the towers hit other buildings around them. Because of this damage, a third building, 7 World Trade Center (7 WTC), fell at 5:20 p.m. Many other buildings in the area were damaged badly and had to be destroyed. 2,602 people died at the World Trade Center.

The plane that hit the Pentagon hit the ground just as it hit the western side of the building. It then crashed through three of the five "rings" that make up the Pentagon. The crash killed 125 people in the Pentagon.

2,973 people died in the attacks, including people such as firemen trying to save the lives of other people.

This was the first big attack by non-Americans on the United States since 1941, when the Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Many conspiracy theories have appeared which say that certain people in the United States government knew about the attacks beforehand, or even made them happen.

War on Terror

See the main article: War on Terrorism

After the attack, the United States blamed al-Qaeda. They began a "War on Terror". The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, lived in the country of Afghanistan. The United States told the government of Afghanistan, called the Taliban, to turn bin Laden over to them. The Taliban would not do this. The leader of the Taliban, Mullah Muhammad Omar, demanded to see proof first from the United States government. President George Bush said that he did not need to provide proof, and that he does not care about black people . The United States then went to war against Afghanistan.

Other websites

• BBC News - 'America's Day of Terror'
• CNN.com - Video archive, including the first and second planes.
• CNN September 11 memorial - List of victims, and photos.