(the average: 4,94
out of 5)
This September 11, 2001 in the USA (in the West just 9/11) is considered the bloodiest in all world history. The most media-highlighted event of all time.
10 years ago, three terrorist-controlled planes crashed into the Pentagon, located near Washington, 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 al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Later official version what happened was criticized by a number of journalists, scientists and witnesses of the tragedy.
Independent investigations were conducted, some of which documentaries were shot. According to one version, the attack on the twin towers was only a distraction, and customers should not be sought among Afghan terrorists and not in the lair of Osama bin Laden, but much closer - surrounded by the US president.
The events of September 11, 2001 developed like this. Around the same time, four airliners were hijacked by terrorists some time after departure.
1. The Statue of Liberty. Manhattan is shrouded in smoke from the collapse of the World Trade Center skyscrapers. Photo taken September 15, 2001. (Photo by Dan Loh | AP):
At 08:45 a.m. the first The Boeing 767-200 crashed into the North Tower of the 110-story WTC skyscrapers at approximately 94-98 floors. 18 minutes later at 9:03 second plane A Boeing 767-200 crashed into the WTC South Tower at approximately 77-85 floors.
2. "One second before." The second plane approaches the South Tower of the World Trade Center, New York, 9:02 a.m. September 11, 2001. (Photo by Sean Adair | Reuters):
3. Second plane Boeing 767-200, flight 175 crashes into the WTC South Tower at 77-85 floors, 9:03, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Sean Adair | Reuters):
4. On board the 175th flight there were 56 passengers (including 5 terrorists) and 9 crew members. (Photo by Spencer Platt | Getty Images):
5. Nearly 35 tons of aviation fuel explode on impact. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
6. The hole in the North Tower of the World Trade Center in the place where the first crashed, New York, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
After the capture, some passengers were able to report what was happening via satellite phones. According to them, the terrorists used knives (possibly knives), as a result of which several flight attendants and crew members were killed.
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 WTC skyscrapers in New York, 9:30 a.m., September 11, 2001. (Photo by USGS | AP):
9. People on the upper floors of skyscrapers. They are locked by fire on the lower floors, where planes crashed. (Photo by Jose Jimenez | Primera Hora | Getty Images):
10. At least 200 people who were trapped on the upper floors of the World Trade Center towers jumped down, preferring such death to death from 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 onto the roofs of the towers, hoping for evacuation by helicopters, but the evacuation did not take place: smoke and heat from the fire made it impossible to use helicopters. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
13. Third plane Boeing 757-200, Flight 77 American Airlines crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. This is a shot from a surveillance camera. (Photo AP):
14. Fire in the Pentagon building, after crashed into it. Killed 125 people in the building and 60 passengers aboard the Boeing. (Photo by Will Morris | AP):
16. Part of the Pentagon building collapsed. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque | Reuters):
18. The purpose of the 4th aircraft The Boeing 757-200 may have been the Capitol. According to the transcript of the voice recorder of flight 93, the team and passengers of the aircraft attempted to regain control of the airliner after they learned by mobile phones that other hijacked planes crashed into the towers of the WTC. It is likely that the losing terrorists decided to direct the plane into the ground, where the fall occurred. A Boeing crashed into a field in southwestern Pennsylvania, near Shanksville, at 10:03 a.m. (Photo by Jason Cohn | Reuters):
19. The crash site of the 4th aircraft in southwestern Pennsylvania, near Shanksville. (Photo by 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 airliners crashed into skyscrapers, the collapse of buildings began as a result of a fire and fusion of burning 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 theoriescast doubt on the nature of the collapse of the WTC towers corresponds to that which could cause aircraft hits and fires. It is claimed that the destruction of the towers is more like a controlled demolition. It was also suggested that the attacks of September 11, 2001 were not planned and carried out by Al-Qaida, but by American intelligence agencies.
According to a survey conducted in 17 countries, international opinion gives such a picture. In general, 46% of respondents place the main responsibility on Al-Qaeda, 15% on the US government, 7% on Israel, another 7% identify other perpetrators. We will not delve into this topic.Those interested in these events can find materials on the network.
21. 56 minutes after South tower a second plane crashed at 9:59 in the morning she begins to collapseSeptember 11, 2001. (Photo by Gulnara Samoilova | AP):
22. (Photo by Richard Drew | AP):
23. The 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 in the morning she begins to collapseSeptember 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 in the WTC. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton | Reuters):
29. Killed 1,366 people on the upper floors North tower WTC, many of which died at the time of the collision of the aircraft with the tower, and the rest - due to fire and collapse. AT South tower at least 600 people were killed on the upper floors. At least 200 of those 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. In a fire, 341 firefighters, 60 police officers, and 8 ambulance personnel were killed. (Photo by Mario Tama | Getty Images):
36. In total, about 18 people were able to leave the hit area in the South Tower and escape. (Photo by Gulnara Samiolava | AP):
In New York, more than 1,600 bodies were identified, 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 scene of the tragedy, which is not comparable 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 chassis of one of the aircraft crashed into the WTC building, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton | Reuters):
41. Search for possible survivors of the World Trade Center “twins” crash, September 11, 2001. (Photo by Matt Moyer | AP):
42. Fire is still blazing at the site of the former WTC, September 12, 2001, one day after. (Photo by Baldwin | AP):
45. In addition to the destruction of two 110-story WTC towers, other structures 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. \u200b\u200bRescuers work in the underground premises of the collapsed World Trade Center, September 14, 2011. (Photo by U.S. Navy | Reuters):
The events have caused chaos throughout the United States. All commercial flights were canceled, and landing in the United States was prohibited. Airplanes arriving from other countries were sent back to departure airports, or headed 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):
The victims of September 11, 2001 were 2,977 people (not including 19 terrorists): 246 passengers and crew members, 2,606 people - in New York, in the WTC buildings and on the ground, 125 - in the Pentagon. U.S. citizens and another 91 countries were killed, including 96 citizens of Russia and the CIS.
When the WTC skyscrapers were destroyed, about 16,000 people who were in towers below the aircraft hit zone were saved. Most of them survived after being evacuated before the demolition of buildings.
A memorial complex was erected on the site of the collapsed twin towers. Currently, the complex is under reconstruction, which they plan to complete by 2012.
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September 11, 2001 in the United States carried out a series of terrorist attacks that resulted in the deaths of 2977 people. According to the official version, destructive attacks were carried out by members of the al-Qaeda group *, but there are facts that can refute the generally accepted point of view.
Quick version
The official version of what happened is as follows. Early in the morning of September 11, 2001, four Boeing passengers were captured in the air by Arab terrorists. The hijackers were armed only with stationery knives and gas canisters. Two aircraft attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center, located in southern Manhattan, the third plane was directed to the Pentagon, the fourth did not reach the Capitol and crashed in the middle of a field in Pennsylvania.
This version was formed just a few days after the tragedy and the American government did not change it anymore. Such hasty conclusions suggest that in Washington they prepared for this in advance.
We have already encountered a situation where the White House “knew for sure” that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction, Muammar Gaddafi was sponsoring international terrorism, and Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons.
None of these allegations have been confirmed. However, these suspicions became the pretext for the use of armed forces authorized by the US authorities in Iraq, Libya and Syria. It is expected that after the events of September 11, the Americans intensified military operations in Afghanistan.
Immediately after the bombings, the head of Al Qaeda * Osama bin Laden declared his innocence in the attacks. Unusual behavior for a person who always gladly took responsibility for the terrorist attacks that took place with his participation. Later, bin Laden nevertheless admitted his involvement in the events of September 11, however, as some say, this person only looked like the leader of Al Qaeda *.
Strange destruction
Probably not everyone knows that during the attack on New York three buildings of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapsed. In addition to the well-known twin towers No. 1 and No. 2, there was also a skyscraper No. 7. The government commission set up to investigate the events of September 11 preferred to remain silent about this fact. House number 7 is a 47-story high-rise building, noticeably inferior to its twin brothers in growth.
In it, in particular, was the New York branch of the CIA headquarters. This building escaped the entry of the aircraft, but by 5 o’clock in the evening it collapsed in the same way as the twin towers.
According to the authorities, the cause of the collapse of the building was burning fragments that fell on it from the collapsing skyscrapers, as well as the ensuing fire. However, the WTC buildings numbered 3, 4, 5, and 6 were much closer to the towers, and they all survived. Maybe the fall of the 7th house had another reason?
As for the twin towers, the researchers are still worried about the curious question: why did not only the upper floors of the building collapse, but also the lower ones? The official version is inexorable: when the building was destroyed, the elite carried away the rest of it.
However, a problem arises here. Parts of the tower structure did not fall in different directions, but formed straight under the base, like a house of cards.
Designers of the WTC all declare as one that the construction of high-rise buildings took into account the possible hit of an airplane in them, as is the case with all skyscrapers. If a catastrophic scenario does occur, then, according to them, it cannot lead to devastating consequences of this magnitude.
The crash footage clearly shows that planes crash into buildings in completely different ways: the liner "entered" the center directly in the center, the south - at an acute angle, chopping off the edge of the skyscraper. Moreover, the destruction of the towers was surprisingly uniform and symmetrical, as in the prepared explosion. And then the strange thing happens: the south tower, less affected by the explosion, collapses first, and only after half an hour the north tower falls, where the consequences of the disaster should have been more impressive.
Experts analyzed the video of the collapse of the towers and almost unanimously stated that this is how the industrial demolition of buildings takes place. Indeed, if you carefully look at the slow motion of the catastrophe, you can see how explosive waves travel at equal distances over the entire height of the building - as if detonating a pre-buried charge.
Here are two more facts to make you think. Shortly before the attack, the floors into which the planes subsequently flew were closed for repairs. And a few weeks before the tragedy, the owner of the twin towers Larry Silverstein insured them for $ 3 billion, and insurance against terrorist attacks was prescribed as a separate item.
Selective fire
According to official conclusions, hundreds of thousands of tons of steel structures melted in a monstrous fire, and hundreds of tons of concrete were dusted.
Is it possible that flammable aviation kerosene, the burning temperature of which is less than 1000 ° C, makes the quenched steel “melt”, which melts no less than at 2000 ° C. At the same time, a critical loss of strength occurred at once of 50 massive load-bearing beams, which is possible only if the fuel spills evenly over all floor areas.
As a result of the explosions, both Boeing’s passengers left charred and unrecognizable particles of bodies. Meanwhile, the passport of Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers of the plane, who became one of the main evidence testifying in favor of Al Qaeda *, was completely unharmed. According to the commission, the document miraculously survived a powerful explosion, fell out of the plane and landed safely near the building.
The US government was in such a hurry to come to the right conclusion that it was not even going to pay attention to such incidents. Further more.
The Investigative Commission announced the identification of part of the passengers and crew members of the aircraft by "DNA residues". And this is after the fire virtually completely destroyed the body of the liner made of high temperature resistant aviation aluminum.
It is curious that despite the “DNA residues” preserved in a fantastic way, the black boxes were recognized as completely destroyed by the fire. Looking at this, it remains only to believe that the fire acted selectively, completely not guided by the laws of the physical world.
No trace
The third hijacked Boeing, which operated flight No. 77 of American Airlines, crashed into the Pentagon building according to official figures. To inflict the most sensitive damage to the building and people, the terrorists sent the liner along the lowest possible trajectory. It is known that the height of the Boeing 757 is 13 meters, the Pentagon - 24 meters.
Based on this, the final kilometers of the liner’s flight should have passed at a height of only a few meters above the ground, which is an almost impossible task for pilots who have just completed express courses.
Moreover, such a maneuver was absolutely unjustified, since, according to many experts, it would not have led to such damage as when falling at an angle. In this case, it would be difficult to miss even an inexperienced pilot, given the impressive area of \u200b\u200bthe Pentagon - 117,363 sq.m. It turns out that the terrorists, carefully planning the attack, chose a more complex and less effective path.
However, the main incident is ahead. Independent researchers who studied the photos of the disaster were alarmed by the fact that the Boeing left no traces of wings when it hit the building. Not found their debris and nearby. Moreover, inside the destroyed section of the building there were no allusions to fragments of the aircraft. According to official conclusions, all of them were destroyed by a powerful explosion and fire, which is very doubtful.
All these facts suggest the other reason for the destruction in the Pentagon - a planned explosion. But if we assume that the Boeing 757 did not crash into the Pentagon, where did the car itself with the passengers and crew of this ill-fated flight disappear?
As for the fourth Boeing, which did not reach the Capitol and fell in the fields of Pennsylvania, there are fewer questions to it. However, there are still inconsistencies. The authorities claim that the cause of the deaths was a blow to the ground, but failed to detect any significant number of fragments of the aircraft at the alleged crash site. Eyewitnesses say that the wreckage was scattered for many kilometers. According to the assumption of researchers who do not share the official point of view, the liner could be shot down in the air by a missile launched from a fighter.
The official version reads: passengers, having contacted relatives on mobile phones, learned that two planes had already crashed into buildings in Manhattan and decided to impede the plans of the hijackers. It was as a result of the struggle ensuing on board that the plane lost its course and went into a steep peak. However, experts argue that the opportunity to use cellular communications in flight appeared only in 2005.
Avoid Reading
In this story, everything is alarming, including the behavior of senior American officials. So, President George W. Bush for a long time ignored the invitation to speak to Congress, but when he agreed to a meeting, he exposed at first glance conditions that could not be explained logically. He insisted on limiting the conversation by time - no more than an hour and a mandatory invitation to the event, Vice President Dick Cheney. At the request of the head of the White House, only two people were to be present from the commission investigating the tragedy.
After a lengthy debate, it was still possible to agree on the participation of 10 members of the commission and remove the time limit. Everyone expected during the meeting to hear from the president exhaustive, and most importantly reliable information about what happened, but everything turned out to be much more complicated. Bush did not allow video, audio, or even stenography of the meeting. In addition, Bush and Cheney refused to take the oath, which could assure the audience of the truthfulness of what was said.
In April 2004, the performance finally took place. However, to this day it is not known what Bush and Cheney have spoken to the congressmen. Many pay attention to the absurdity of this situation. She looks like if one witness agreed to appear in court only in the presence of another witness. Why is this needed? Probably in order to avoid inconsistencies in the testimony.
In the world, the conviction is growing every year that the attacks were planned by US intelligence agencies to justify the actions of the US military in the Middle East. But final conclusions are premature. So far, only the following can be said with confidence: if the US authorities did not organize the attacks themselves, then at least they did not prevent them from planning.
* Al Qaeda - a terrorist group, banned on the territory of the Russian Federation
An event that changed the lives of people
It is no exaggeration to say that this day has become the most unusual on the planet in the 21st century. Then the inhabitants of all countries of the world clung their eyes to the screens of their TVs, "stuck" on the Internet. And there, on the screens, something completely unimaginable was happening, reminiscent of shots from a fantastic action movie. Huge passenger liners crashed into the skyscrapers of New York, tall buildings folded like toy houses, drowning in clouds of dust resembling a volcanic eruption. And - people: endless crowds screaming, running through the streets, or frozen in the distance with a mobile phone near his ear ...
Alas, this was not a film, but an almost direct report from the place of the event, which subsequently will rightly be called the largest act of terrorism in the history of mankind. The event, bearing a completely official name: "The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York."
September 11, 2001 attack - how it happened
It is difficult to describe what happened, if only because the narrator inevitably slides into emotions, personal assessments, and even his own memories. Moreover, so far, after many years, certain mysteries, unexplored moments, and inconsistent interpretations remain in the picture of a grandiose terrorist attack. However, the essence of what happened is as follows.
A group of Islamic terrorists captured four passenger airliners that were full of people on scheduled flights in the morning that day. Further investigation revealed that there were a total of 19 attackers, all of whom belonged to the same organization, al-Qaeda. In each of the aircraft there was at least one person who had undergone special training and was able to steer a passenger ship.
The terrorists sent two planes to the tall buildings - the South and North towers of the World Trade Center, which were the pride of Manhattan and towered in its southern part. Aircraft crashed into these skyscrapers in turn, with an interval of about 16 minutes. As a result of the disaster, the buildings caught fire, and subsequently completely collapsed, burying a huge number of people under themselves. Naturally, all passengers in the aircraft died.
A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania, crashed into a field. As the investigation showed, his goal, apparently, was the building of the US Congress, but the terrorists did not succeed in carrying out the plan: a fight broke out on board with the crew and passengers, which ultimately led to the crash of the aircraft. Naturally, all those on the third and fourth ships also died.
Pentagon building after a collision with an airplane
Currently, it is ascertained that as a result of these sad events, 2,977 people were killed, not counting 19 attackers. Also, 23 people are still listed among the missing.
This is exactly what a brief description of this extraordinary event looks like, but for a more accurate picture it needs to be supplemented with some important facts.
September 11, 2001 terrorist attack - additional facts
All captured flights followed their schedules to distant California, that is, they had a lot of fuel on board, because the seizures occurred shortly after the flights. The plane flew into the North Tower at about the 95th floor, and at the South Tower at about the 80th floor. It is impossible to say more precisely, since in both cases they were Boeings, very large aircraft, and the contact area was more than one floor.
The terrible fire and destruction caused by the disaster led to the collapse of giant buildings. The South Tower fell first, after it, after about half an hour, the North Tower (a fire in the building raged for 102 minutes). The third building, also part of the World Trade Center complex, fell in the late afternoon. It was too close to the towers, which were attacked, and could not withstand the temperature and mechanical effects that fell on its walls. In addition, the accumulated gas from the destroyed communications exploded inside the building.
Some time passed between the seizure of the aircraft and their crash, during which many passengers managed to connect with their relatives and friends via mobile communications. Someone said goodbye to life, someone tried to contact the special services. Many records of these negotiations have been preserved: emotional, deep, filled with fear and grief, but also with love for family people.
In some cases, passengers and crew tried to resist the terrorists. One of the aircraft, as already mentioned, as a result of such heroic actions did not reach its target. In a Boeing that crashed into the North Tower, even before the collision, at least one passenger and crew commander were killed; This is proved by the investigation.
Pennsylvania 4th plane crash site
In the first hours after the terrorist attack, the life of the United States has changed beyond recognition. No aircraft received permission to arrive in the country and land at its airfields. Passenger flights within the state were canceled; all foreign flights departed for landing in Canada and Mexico. Hundreds of fighter jets patrolled the sky around all the major cities.
A special role was given to New York. In Manhattan, thousands of firefighters, doctors and rescuers worked. All city policemen were involved, colleagues from other regions urgently arrived to help them. The destroyed twin towers left behind huge blockages, the burning of which lasted about 100 days, while many harmful chemicals were released into the air.
Subsequently, US intelligence agencies found that most of the 19 terrorists (15 people) had Saudi citizenship, the rest were subjects of the UAE, Egypt and Lebanon. They were not typical shaheed fanatics: everyone had a good education and an established life philosophy.
The consequences of the attack
The massive terrorist attack of September 11th had consequences commensurate with its scope. They appeared in various spheres of life, and throughout the world. Here are just a few of them.
Material
In addition to the completely destroyed three WTC skyscrapers, several more nearby buildings, including one church, were significantly damaged, or even destroyed. Lost archives, works of art, countless documents. Southern Manhattan has weakened its business value for many years. Very large damage was done to the Pentagon building.
Political
The US government and Congress have created a special commission known as the “9/11 Commission.” She worked for two years, and came to the conclusion that the main organizer and culprit of the attack was the Al-Qaeda Islamic fundamentalist organization, which spent about half a billion dollars on the plot. The origin of these funds remains a mystery to this day.
The organization was headed by the Saudi Osama bin Laden. The basis of her ideology was hatred of Israel and the United States. In subsequent years, America, along with its allies, launched an unprecedented struggle against fundamentalists, primarily Al-Qaeda. Its leader was destroyed in Afghanistan by an American special squad in May 2011.
All the leading countries of the world have revised their views on terrorism, realizing its global danger. Practically everywhere, security measures have been significantly tightened, especially on aircraft.
You can talk about the economic consequences of the event, and its military significance, about the impact on geopolitics. But perhaps the most important thing to note is the change, so to speak, of the modern philosophy of life. After such terrible events, all people, without exception, acutely realized in which, in essence, fragile world we live in. In this world, even the most powerful country is vulnerable, and danger lies in wait for a person not only in warring states. The terrorist attack in New York showed that the borders between enemies and friends have become ghostly, and the brutality of wars does not necessarily manifest themselves only on the fronts of local conflicts.
Beautiful temporary memorials were built on the site of the former twin towers; Permanent monuments are under construction. The American nation celebrates a mournful date as a Day of Service and Remembrance. And in New York there is a tall monument of the work of Zurab Tsereteli - “Tear of Sorrow”. Inside the chopped bronze plate is a huge steel drop. This symbol of sorrow is not only about the people who died in the terrorist attack. And perhaps not even that much. This tear - symbolizes the general pain of mankind, which after September 11 became in many ways different, not so careless and happy.
On September 11, 2001, three aircraft controlled by terrorists crashed into the skyscrapers of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York and into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. As a result of the attacks killed those who were in buildings and in hijacked aircraft. In addition, the disaster claimed the lives of firefighters and police officers, thanks to whose efforts it was possible to save about 30 thousand people. On weekdays, the WTC employed over 55 thousand people, the daily number of visitors and tourists reached 150 thousand. On July 15, 2002, the search for the remains of the victims of terrorist attacks was officially completed.
On August 20, 2002, the first official list of those killed in New York as a result of the collapse of the WTC was published. 2819 people from 80 countries of the world appear in it, including three Russians. On two aircraft that crashed into the WTC skyscrapers, a total of 157 people were killed. Killed 343 firefighters. Identified by relatives or by DNA analysis of 1102 people. According to statistics, of the ten people killed in New York, eight were men, the average age of the victims was forty years. Mostly these were employees engaged in mental work: from software developers to bank employees and employees of insurance companies. Many were at the peak of their careers. About ten people were executives, founders or presidents of companies. At least 59 people served as vice presidents. Of the identified victims, fifteen were under the age of twenty-one, including three three-year-olds.
As a result of the terrorist attack in Washington, when the plane crashed into the Pentagon, 184 people were killed: 120 employees and 64 passengers and crew. 44 people were killed on a plane that was hijacked by terrorists, but, before reaching Washington, crashed in Pennsylvania. The total number of dead was more than three thousand people, about six thousand were injured. On September 12, 2001, US President George W. Bush made a televised address to the nation in connection with the attacks in New York and Washington. He stated that he had ordered the use of “all intelligence and law enforcement resources” by the United States to search for and punish the organizers of the attacks. The head of the White House said that the perpetrators of the attacks carried out the "act of massacre." According to him, the terrorists sought to create chaos in America, but they failed to do so.
On September 15, the President of the United States in a weekly radio message to the country announced that the United States plans to launch a “comprehensive attack” on terrorism. The United States is planning a "wide and long campaign to protect our country and eliminate the evil of terrorism." George W. Bush warned the Americans that they would need patience because the upcoming “conflict will not be short,” as well as decisiveness, as “the conflict will not be easy.” Bush called the actions of the terrorists "barbaric." He said that the United States will work together with other countries of the world, including Russia, India, Pakistan, to punish the perpetrators and organizers of the attacks in New York and Washington.