On this day, 19 years ago, an event that shook the world and reshaped America’s foreign policy occured.
That’s the coordinated attacks by terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
How it Happened
On September 11, 2001, at 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767—United Airlines Flight 175—appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center and sliced into the south tower near the 60th floor.
One failed in its mission in Pennsylvania, not without killing 44 people on board while the 4th plane hit the pentagon
It was a dark day for the United States of America, its friends and the world at large.
Impact on World Trade Centre
The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors.
As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcast live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident.
The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and onto the streets below. It immediately became clear that America was under attack.
How many people died?
A total of 2, 996 people died in the multiple attacks with over 10,000 sustaining various degrees of injuries.
This act made the United States rethink its security apparatus as it was apparent the country was not as safe as it thought.
What Next?
Less than a month after this devasting incident, the department of homeland security was established.
Changes were introduced to airport security checks and the department of Homeland Security started looking at people differently.
Then began the classification of countries by the US in line with their ties with terrorist organisations.
The United States, to avert a reoccurrence of the National attack, also moved to put in place, a verification system.
The Effect on other Countries
Nigeria was recently at the receiving end of the security measure put in place by the United States, being without a data system and due to the activities of terrorists in the Northern part of the country
This incident also put many countries of the world on alert as security checks at all airports took a new dimension
19 years down the line, America has come out stronger, and the remarks by President Bush on the day of the attack still resonates.
‘Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.’
The world may have overcome the economic impact of this terror attack, but the social and psychological impact cannot be forgotten so soon especially the trauma experienced by those directly affected.
