On the 25th anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center, the official 9/11 ceremony in New York will for the first time include a moment of silence dedicated to the thousands who have since died from illnesses linked to their exposure to pollution released when the Twin Towers fell.
Issued on: 11/09/2026 - 07:16
3 min Reading time
On 11 September 2001, Al-Qaeda hijackers seized control of two planes that struck the two World Trade Center towers in downtown New York City. A third hijacked jet smashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane that appeared to be headed for the US Capitol or the White House crashed in woodland near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back and seized control. The attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 people, mostly in the collapse of the Twin Towers on the site now known as Ground Zero. But in the last 25 years, thousands of people who escaped or participated in rescue operations have developed serious illnesses associated with exposure to toxic dust and debris. Seventh silence More than 9,400 have died from illnesses linked to their exposure to contaminated air at or near Ground Zero, the Pentagon and related sites, according to a federal medical monitoring programme. It is with these people in mind that organisers at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have added a seventh moment of silence to the annual ceremony on Friday. Previous commemorations have featured six moments of silence corresponding to the times the four planes hit and the moment each tower fell. The new observance will occur after the reading of the victims' names and is intended to recognise others who were affected in the years after the attacks, including firefighters, police officers, construction workers, volunteers, local residents, office workers and students.
