Remembering 9/11

It's 07:41PM MNL time as of this writing and I can still remember the 9/11 attack that occurred at the World Trade Center in New York, USA. I was watching TV back then, switching from one channel to the other and came across the CNN network, who reported that there was a plane crash that occurred in one of the twin towers in downtown Manhattan. I immediately called the attention of my Mom since we have a relative living in New Jersey to confirm of this breaking news. As I was watching the reports from different international news station - BBC, CNN, Fox and local news station - ABS-CBN & GMA, I can only imagine this would ONLY happen in the movies. As you can see in this picture, it is the actual crash sequence of the second plane (United Airlines Flight 175), a Boeing 767-200, crashed into the South Tower at 9:02:59AM EST, an event covered live by television broadcasters and amateur filmers from around the world who had their cameras trained on the buildings after the earlier crash.

One might wonder how come this could have happen, especially in USA which has the strictest security policies in the world, launching a nuclear bomb would be an obvious choice but crashing a commercial plane into a tower - which is one of the tourists attraction in New York just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France is least expected. We can only assume that this a well planned premeditated attack to a nation that is considered one of the super powers in the world.

Now, we might wonder who are these people behind this unholy act - after careful and further investigation by the US government agencies especially the FBI which involved approximately 7,000 special agents, determined that Al-Qaeda headed by Osama bin Laden, bore responsibility for the attacks, with the FBI stating that evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable.

The extent of the damage is indescribable and inhumane - 2,974 fatalities, not including the 19 hijackers; 246 on the four planes (no one on board any of the hijacked aircraft survived); 2,603 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. Among the fatalities were 343 NY City Fire Department firefighters, 23 NY City Police Department officers, 37 Port Authority Police Department officers.

As of today, we are still remembering what happened in this tragic day of September 11. May all those victims souls rest in peace.