China News Agency, New York, September 11 (Reporter Wang Fan) On the morning of the 11th local time, nearly a thousand people gathered at the World Trade Center Site Plaza in New York, United States, to mourn the victims of the "September 11" terrorist attack 20 years ago.
U.S. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, former President Obama and his wife Michelle, and former President Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton attended the commemoration ceremony.
At about 8:40 in the morning, a guard of honor composed of New York City police and firefighters raised the American flag and took to the podium. Youths of different skin colors sang the American national anthem, and the memorial ceremony officially began.
At 8:46, the bell of mourning rang, and the audience mourned in silence.
Subsequently, representatives of the relatives of the victims took the stage and read the names of all the victims in turn.
Some people kept choking and weeping at the scene.
There were six silent tributes in the commemoration ceremony, corresponding to the six time points in the "9.11" incident.
At 8:46 on September 11, 2001, a passenger plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York; at 9:03, the second passenger plane hit the South Tower; at 9:37, the Pentagon was hit by a passenger plane; 9:59 , The South Tower collapsed; at 10:03, a passenger plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; at 10:28, the North Tower collapsed.
The New York Times said that in the entire incident, terrorists hijacked 4 passenger planes, and a total of 2977 people were killed, of which 2753 people were killed in the Ground Zero.
In the morning, the top 20 hot topics in the New York area updated in real time on social media were almost all related to "September 11". Posts were posted under the topic tags of "Cannot Forget", "September 11th Anniversary", and "World Trade Center". The number totaled more than one million as of noon.
Biden also posted on social media, calling the "September 11" terrorist attack an "unspeakable act of cowardice and hatred," and nearly 3,000 people suffered as a result.
"As a country, we must not forget the people who lost their lives at the darkest moment in history, and the long-term pain caused by the loss of their families and loved ones."
In addition to the commemorative ceremony at the World Trade Center Site Plaza, the "September 11" commemorative activities held in New York City on that day also included the ringing of church bells throughout the city, the dance performance in memory of the deceased in the fountain plaza of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Verdi’s "Announcement". The special performance of "Soul Song", the blue lamppost symbolizing the "Twin Towers" building is lit up near the "Return to Ground" and so on.
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