Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, saw the world in a state of stunned disbelief at the most daring act of terrorism ever committed. In a devilishly brilliant plan designed for maximum impact, terrorists hijacked four planes and had three of them crash into America’s most prominent buildings namely, the twin towers of Wo rid Trade Centre at New York and the Pentagon at Washington within a span of 60 minutes. It was an unforgettable 60 minutes of hell for America. The event shook the very foundation of United States of America.
It all began on Tuesday morning Sept. 11, 2001, when four commercial aeroplanes were hijacked by terrorists belonging to a terrorist organisation named Al-Qaida group. The attack is said to have been masterminded by the notorious terrorist chief named ‘Osama-bin-Laden, the chief of Al-Qaida organisation. The attack was aimed at destroying the American might as America stood against the Pak-Islamic expansion over the Middle East and tried to suppress Muslim fundamentalism and ‘Jehad’ (holy war) in different parts of the world including Afghanistan and Palestine.
Each plane had four to five hijackers who using simple weapons as knives managed to get control of the planes and directed the planes to their pre-planned destinations. They also disabled plane’s transponders so as not to be detected by radars. At 8.48 a.m. the first of the four hijacked planes with 81 passengers and 11 crew hit the North Tower of the World Trade Centre (WTC) at New York on its 80th floor.
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About two hours later, the North Tower collapsed. At 9.03 a.m. another plane with 56 passengers and 9 crewmen on board hit South Tower of the WTC. About an hour later, the South tower too came crumpling down. At 9.38 a.m. the third hijacked plane with 58 passengers and 6 crew on board crashed into Pentagon destroying a part of the building. The fourth hijacked plane didn’t succeed in its mission as it crashed into a desolate place near Pittsburg, probably after a fight between the passengers and the hijackers.
The impact of three crashes was terrible. The hijacked planes were turned into airborne bombs carrying a full load of aviation fuel. The two Boeing, which hit the New York towers, carried about 90, 720 liters while the other two Boeings had about 42,680 liters of fuel. As the two Boeings hit the twin towers the oil spilled out burning, and turned the two towers into a burning inferno. The solid steel frames could not withstand the terrible heat and within minutes melted away resulting in the collapse of the 1,368 ft. towers.
N o other event in America’s recent history has had so much impact on American establishment, economy and political leadership as this event. More than 10,000 people were feared to be dead. The two towers had about 155 business concerns and employed nearly 50,000 people.
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Thirty billion dollars worth property was destroyed. The Wall Street, the nerve-centre of world’s stock market was closed for four days-first time in history. People of New York and other cities became panic-stricken. A feeling of terror struck America for the first time. White house was evacuated. The American President, George W. Bush was taken to a safe place.
All major Govt, offices were closed. All American airports were temporarily shut down. All flights to and fro America were suspended. Schools and colleges all over America were declared closed. For the first time, since the Second World War, tanks and armed policemen began to patrol the American cities. The economic impact of the attack was beyond calculation. The headquarters of over 100 American Business establishments were reduced to ashes. However, the most significant consequences of the attack was that the myth of American invincibility was demolished for good. The 9/11 event, as it is known today, is said to be a ‘second Pearl Harbour event’ in the history of America.
The towering inferno in New York has illuminated the darkest reality of our time- the power of terrorism. It has shown that terrorism has no frontiers and no power, however, supreme and invincible they may appear to be, is strong enough to thwart the designs of terrorists. It is time that the world stands together and fights this menace unitedly. Many more Osama-bin-Laden’s are likely to emerge in the future. Only a united world can withstand their might and designs.