September 11, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US. Photos taken on September 11 serve as visual records, capturing the shock, destruction, and the dramatic hours that followed.
Image: Henny Ray Abrams/AFP
On September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m. local time, a Boeing 767 crashed into the 417-meter-tall (1,368 ft.) North Tower of the WTC. The impact tore a massive hole in the building. There were 92 people on board, none of whom survived. Chaos broke out in the tower as smoke filled the upper floors. At that point, hardly anyone realized that this was the beginning of an unprecedented terrorist attack.
Image: David Karp/AP Photo/picture alliance
The US network CNN immediately began broadcasting the footage live. At 9:03 a.m. local time, viewers around the world watched as a second plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The second Boeing had 65 passengers on board and was scheduled to fly from Boston to Los Angeles. Everyone on board of the plane was killed, as were more than 2,000 people in and around the WTC.
Image: WABC television/CNN/dpa/picture alliance
A massive cloud of smoke and flames rose over Manhattan. Two-thirds of the South Tower’s load-bearing columns had been destroyed or severely damaged. By then, at the very latest, it was clear: This was a terrorist attack. Initial speculation began to circulate that the planes may have been hijacked by terrorists. The suspicion was confirmed shortly thereafter.
Image: akg-images GmbH/epd
At the same time, US President George W. Bush was visiting a school in Florida. When Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered to him, “A second plane has hit the World Trade Center. America is under attack,” Bush became visibly nervous. He remained seated and continued to listen to the children. He later said in a statement that it appeared to be “a terrorist attack on our country.”
Image: Doug Mills/AP Photo/picture alliance
The World Trade Center was not the only target of the terrorist attack: At 9:37 a.m., another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. American Airlines Boeing 757, with 64 people on board, struck the west wing at the level of the first floor. Parts of the building were severely damaged. Shortly thereafter, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) closed the US airspace.
Image: Everett Collection/IMAGO
Another plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was en route from New Jersey to San Francisco at this time, but was being diverted toward Washington by hijackers. The passengers apparently learned of the other attacks via cell phones and decided to overpower the hijackers. At 10:03 a.m., the plane crashed in a field near Pittsburgh with 44 people on board.
Image: David Maxwell/dpa/picture alliance
After the two planes struck the World Trade Center, a desperate struggle for survival began for the people inside the twin towers. As smoke and flames spread, New York City firefighters rushed into the buildings to rescue as many people as possible. Hundreds of firefighters didn’t make it out alive.
Image: Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images/AFP
Desperate, people on the upper floors searched for a way out of the burning towers. But debris, smoke, and fire blocked their escape routes. In the North Tower, about 400 meters above the streets of New York, people crowded the windows, gasping for air. For many, there was no way out. More than 200 people jumped from the windows to their deaths rather than burning alive.
Image: Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images/AFP
The World Trade Center could not withstand the destruction: At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed. Twenty-nine minutes later, the North Tower also collapsed in a massive cloud of dust. Thousands of metric tons of debris rained down onto the streets. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in the attacks, including more than 300 firefighters and dozens of police officers.
Image: Greg Semendinger/dpa/picture alliance
People fled through the streets of New York as the World Trade Center collapsed behind them. A massive cloud of dust and debris spread between the buildings, shrouding the streets in darkness and making it difficult to breathe. People were trying to get to safety away from the rubble and the approaching dust.
Image: Suzanne Plunkett/AP Photo/picture alliance
After the collapse of the twin towers, firefighters and rescue workers searched the rubble for survivors. A thick layer of dust and debris covered Lower Manhattan. By the evening of September 11, it became clear who is behind the attacks: Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Image: Dennis Van Tine/Avalon.red/IMAGO
Six days after the attacks, smoke was still rising above “Ground Zero,” the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. The consequences extended far beyond New York: In October 2001, the US launched airstrikes against Afghanistan, marking the start of its longest military campaign. The goal: to dismantle al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden was tracked down and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011.
Image: Ringo Chiu/ZUMA/picture alliance12 images1 | 1212 imageshttps://p.dw.com/p/5MEhg
