Summary

  • Memorial services will be held today to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States

  • On 11 September 2001, 2,977 people were killed when hijackers crashed three planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia

  • A fourth hijacked plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back

  • An event to honour the victims will be held in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at 11:00 BST

  • Memorial services are also taking place at the three crash sites in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania

  • The 9/11 attacks, along with the response, came to define a generation of foreign, security and intelligence policy for the first two decades of this century, says the BBC's Frank Gardner

  1. What happened in September 11 attacks - a timelinepublished at 09:38 BST

    All times are local to New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

    07:59: American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles

    08:14: United Airlines Flight 175 takes off from Boston for Los Angeles

    08:20: American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Dulles International Airport near Washington DC for Los Angeles

    08:42: United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark International Airport for San Francisco

    08:46: American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center

    09:03: United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center

    A map showing where the hijacked planes crashed on 11 September 2001

    09:37: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon

    09:59: The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses

    10:03: United Airlines Flight 93 crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew fight back against the hijackers

    10:28: The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses

    17:20: World Trade Center Building 7 collapses after sustaining heavy fire and structural damage

  2. 9/11 was 'a huge turning point' for Muslims, says London councillorpublished at 09:21 BST

    Councillor Rabina Khan poses for pictures. She's a woman in her early 50s, wearing a black headscarf that drapes over her chest and a white zip up jacket with black linings, her arms are crossed in front of herImage source, Getty Images

    We've just heard from Rabina Khan, a Liberal Democrat councillor for the Shadwell ward in Tower Hamlets, who remembers being deeply saddened by the senseless act of terror on 11 September, 2001.

    "This is a day for those who lost people," she says as the world marks 25 years since the attacks.

    She tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, on the day, she "also wondered what would happen for us as Muslims" as "the actions of terrorists were being associated with an entire faith".

    "9/11 was a huge turning point for us," she says. "We were then being viewed through the lens of terrorism, national security".

    She says it was ordinary Muslims who were "having to answer consistently about their faith, we were increasingly expected to condemn terrorism and sometimes almost have to prove we didn't belong to groups".

    "There was a sense that condemnation was never enough," she adds.

  3. 'The smell, I remember still - the burning': Welsh first minister recalls working in New York after 9/11published at 09:09 BST

    Brendon Williams
    BBC News

    Wales' First Minister Rhun ap IorwerthImage source, Getty Images

    Wales' First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth covered the aftermath of 9/11 while working as a BBC journalist.

    He was on holiday with his wife Llinos and their daughter, and was travelling from Vermont to meet his in-laws, who had flown from Wales to join them in New York.

    After being reassured they were safe, he headed to New York City, bought a mobile phone, and reported on the terror attacks, "knowing that the world would likely never be the same again".

    Although he had been to New York previously, he says: "I remember arriving and it being a distinctly different city.

    "The smell, I remember still - the burning.

    "This bold city, quieter. I remember the sense of shock, which was palpable on the streets of New York."

    The first minister says much of the history of the last 25 years "stemmed from that event".

    "The beginning of the 'war on terror', the tensions, Islamophobia, the way that geopolitics have been shaped."

    He adds: "We've also learnt that cool heads are needed, even in those most horrific of circumstances."

    A younger Rhun ap Iorwerth stands in front of the New York skyline in a short sleeved chequered shirt delivering a news packageImage source, BBC/Newyddion S4C.
  4. 'Scotland stands with the United States,' says John Swinneypublished at 08:56 BST

    Scotland's First Minister John SwinneyImage source, PA Media

    Scotland's First Minister John Swinney says that "Scotland stands with the United States" in remembering those who lost their lives 25 years ago.

    He pays tribute to the courage of survivors, families and first responders who showed resilience "in the face of unimaginable tragedy".

    The first minister has been speaking ahead of a service of remembrance at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh later.

    Swinney adds: "These attacks shocked the world and affected communities across the globe, including here in Scotland.

    "My thoughts are with all those whose lives were forever changed by that terrible day, especially the families and friends of those who lost their lives."

  5. Burnham pays tribute to 9/11 victims, including 67 Britonspublished at 08:44 BST

    PM Andy BurnhamImage source, PA Media

    Prime Minister Andy Burnham says "hatred and fear did not have the last word on 9/11".

    Writing on X this morning, the 25th anniversary of the attacks, he pays tribute to "the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, including 67 Britons".

    He says his thoughts are with those who lost friends and family members, adding: "Time may pass, but I know the grief is still felt just as deeply today."

    He says "those who seek to destroy our way of life will never win", adding that he saw the "same defiance" in Manchester in the wake of two attacks there while he was mayor.

    "I will never forget the messages of support and friendship from people across America who knew better than anyone the suffering of our city," he says.

  6. 'We owe 9/11 victims preparation, resilience and courage' - MI5 bosspublished at 08:32 BST

    A white man with dark hair in a quiff stands behind a podium speaking into a microphone, he is wearing a suit. On the wall behind him, it says Security Service, MI5.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Ken McCallum delivering a speech at Thames House in October 2025

    The horrors of 9/11 will never leave me, writes Director General of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum in the Independent this morning., external

    The head of the UK's domestic intelligence and security agency says it was apparent after the attacks that "al-Qaeda had to be not just taken on, but taken down".

    The Islamist extremist network, while still a threat, now has capabilities that are "a fraction of 2001's" thanks to a "gargantuan multinational effort, powerfully spearheaded by the US", McCallum says writes.

    He also notes that the MI5 in 2026 contends with "a threat landscape markedly different" than 25 years ago - but adds that the agency "seeks to bring the same unflinching resolve and willingness to adapt that carried us through the traumas of the 9/11 era".

    He concludes: "We owe the victims of 9/11 - and those who will otherwise become the victims of tomorrow’s attack - something more than remembrance. We owe them preparation, resilience and the courage to adapt before the next shock arrives."

  7. I watched as a hijacked plane flew over my home - moments later my wife was killed on 9/11published at 08:19 BST

    Brendon Williams
    BBC News

    Charles Wolf and his wife KatherineImage source, Charles Wolf

    Charles Wolf knew immediately that something was wrong when a plane flew low over his New York City apartment on a sunny morning 25 years ago.

    Seconds later, the plane slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center - where his wife Katherine, from Swansea, was working.

    Katherine died instantly, becoming one of 2,977 people killed in the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001.

    "I knew instantly when it flew over my building - our apartment building - that it was a twin engine jet at full throttle," said Charles, a trained pilot. "I knew it so well that I called the FBI and told them... 'That was no accident, that was deliberate'."

    A year later, when Charles met the FBI agent who took that call, he said the agent told him: "You were the first person to get us on to the fact that that was not an accident."

    Charles subsequently led a campaign to ensure the victims' families and dependants were fairly compensated, and said his "wonderful" wife would be proud of what he fought for.

    Unhappy with the US-government run September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, he successfully pressured the authorities into allocating funds more fairly and to more people.

    His fight later became the subject of a Netflix movie called Worth, in which he was portrayed by the actor Stanley Tucci.

  8. 'Horror film scream lives in my head,' says 9/11 survivorpublished at 08:00 BST

    Janice Brooks speaks to BBC Breakfast. She's a middle aged woman with short blonde hair, she's wearin

    Warning: This post contains details that some may find distressing

    Janice Brooks had only moved to New York a couple of weeks before 9/11 to begin what she calls "the biggest adventure of [her] life" - working for a company called Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower.

    On the morning of the attacks, she was in the office when she heard a bang and saw "paper and dust swirling" as the first plane hit the North Tower, she tells BBC Breakfast.

    While she was evacuating, the second plane hit with an "almighty thud". Brooks heard "one of those horror film screams" as a woman was hit by debris, her eyes covered in blood.

    She says the scream "lives in my head".

    When she finally reached the ground floor and looked up at the building, there was a "big gaping hole" where her floor should have been.

    Sixty-one people died in her office. "I only went to 23 funerals," Brooks says. "I should have tried harder, I’ll take it to my grave that I let them down."

    She says she's given herself "one job" since that day: "To have a good life".

  9. 'Just crying': What Americans remember from 9/11published at 07:47 BST

    A day that "changed the landscape of the country" and "something that we all should remember".

    Those are some of the words Americans have chosen to describe the 9/11 terror attacks 25 years on.

    One man recalls waking up that day, "getting a phone call, turning on the TV and just crying".

    Another woman describes the "heartbreaking" moment she saw footage of the towers falling.

  10. Lights above New York and 3,000 US flags laid - how America is paying tributepublished at 07:32 BST

    Across America, people have already been paying tribute to the victims of 9/11.

    It's been 25 years since the attacks and commemorative events and displays have lit up the sky above New York and nearly 3,000 US flags have been laid in the shape of the Twin Towers in North Carolina.

    Here are some of the pictures we've seen so far:

    The New York skyline, the sky is dark and lights are shining in tall buildings and the statue of liberty. Two large streams of light are beaming upwards.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    The Tribute in Light public art installation commemorating the September 11 attacks lights up the sky above New York

    A woman uses her phone torch to look at US flags laid in the ground on sticks. Three people stand behind her.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    In Charlotte, North Carolina, people have laid nearly 3,000 US flags to remember the 9/11 victims

    A group of people stand on the right of a stage, to the left are five people in military uniforms with guns. In the foreground are two beams of light going upwards.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    People take part in a 9/11 tribute at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas

  11. Analysis

    How the lessons of 9/11 are still being learntpublished at 07:17 BST

    Frank Gardner
    Security correspondent

    A treated image of smoke pouring from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners.Image source, Getty Images

    The first duty of a government, countless leaders over the decades have said, is to safeguard its population. On 11 September 2001 the US manifestly failed to do that. The intelligence was there, yet tragically, nobody joined up the dots in time.

    9/11, as the attacks on the US became known, came to define – along with the response – a generation of foreign, security and intelligence policy for the first two decades of this century.

    In the ensuing 25 years there have been numerous intelligence successes as well as failures on both sides of the Atlantic. The successes include plots that have been foiled, suspects who have been arrested, brought to trial, convicted and jailed.

    But what of the bigger picture? How has intelligence-gathering, counter-terrorism and strategic planning changed in the 25 years since the worst terrorist attack in US history?

  12. The 2,977 victims killed in 9/11 attackspublished at 07:01 BST

    A journalist films a video during a preview of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s newest exhibition, ‘In Their Honor: 25 Years of 9/11-Inspired Service,’ in New York, U.S., August 31, 2026.Image source, Reuters

    In all, 2,977 people (not counting the 19 hijackers) lost their lives in the September 11 attacks, most of them in New York City:

    • All 246 passengers and crew aboard the four planes were killed
    • At the Twin Towers, 2,606 people died - at the time or later from injuries sustained during the attack
    • At the Pentagon, 125 people were killed

    The youngest victim was two-year-old Christine Lee Hanson and the oldest was 82-year-old Robert Norton, who were both passengers on planes.

    Citizens of more than 90 different countries were among the casualties. New York City lost 441 first responders - the largest loss of emergency personnel in US history.

    Thousands of people were injured, or later developed illnesses connected to the attacks, including firefighters who had worked in toxic debris.

  13. Passengers fought back on Flight 93published at 06:45 BST

    National Park Service Officers salute along Wall of Names during a ceremony commemorating the 23rd anniversary of the crash of Flight 93 during the September 11th terrorist attacks at the Flight 93 National Memorial on September 11, 2024 in Shanksville, PennsylvaniaImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    The Wall of Names memorial honouring the 40 passengers and crew on Flight 93

    United Flight 93 was the only plane that did not hit any targets during the attacks of 9/11.

    The flight from Newark, New Jersey was headed west to San Francisco when four hijackers gained control of the aircraft and changed its flight path to travel south, heading towards the Washington DC area.

    It is thought the hijackers had meant to attack Washington's Capitol Building - the attacks occurred days after US lawmakers resumed legislative activities after their traditional summer break.

    The 40 passengers and crew onboard Flight 93 learned about the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon by communicating with friends and family on airfones.

    They fought back against the hijackers who crashed the plane in an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania killing all on board and saving hundreds of lives.

    A memorial, known as the Wall of Names, stands in the field where the plane crashed to honour the victims and the heroism they showed that day.

  14. What happened on 9/11published at 06:31 BST

    Smoke plumes from the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, shortly after the attack on 11 September 2001.Image source, Getty Images

    On Tuesday 11 September 2001, four planes flying over the eastern US were seized by small teams of hijackers from the Islamist extremist network al-Qaeda.

    They were then used as giant, guided missiles to crash into landmark buildings in New York and Virginia. Two planes hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, with the second strike occurring 17 minutes after the first.

    The buildings caught fire, trapping people on the upper floors, and enveloping the city in smoke. In less than two hours, both 110-storey towers collapsed in massive clouds of dust.

    A third plane destroyed the western face of the Pentagon - the US military headquarters located just outside Washington DC.

    The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back. It is thought the hijackers had meant to attack Washington's Capitol Building.

    In all, 2,977 people (not counting the 19 hijackers) lost their lives, most of them in New York, including 441 first responders - the largest loss of emergency personnel in US history.

  15. Seven minutes of silence and tribute of light: How the US will mark 25th anniversarypublished at 06:25 BST

    People attend a memorial service at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in lower Manhattan on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on September 11, 2025, in New York CityImage source, Spencer Platt/Getty Images
    Image caption,

    People pictured attending a memorial service at 9/11 Memorial & Museum on September 11 last year

    A series of memorials and vigils are being held across the US today, with the main events being held at the three sites where the attacks took place. Here's what to expect throughout the day:

    In New York

    • 08:30 US Eastern Daylight Time (12:30 GMT, 13:30 BST): A commemoration ceremony begins at the 9/11 Memorial plaza of the World Trade Center, during which the names of the victims will be read out from 08:46 EDT - the moment the first plane crashed into the North Tower
    • The reading will be punctuated by seven moments of silence, six to mark the times the planes crashed and buildings fell, and the seventh to honour the first responders and survivors who have since died from 9/11-related illnesses
    • 15:30 EDT: The New York Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a concert at the Perelman Performing Arts Center
    • 17:00 EDT: A special memorial mass will be held at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan
    • 19:00 EDT: The New York Yankees and the New York Mets will play a memorial game series to mark 25 years since the attacks
    • TheTribute in Light will also be on display from dusk till dawn

    In Pennsylvania

    • 08:30 EDT: A ceremony will be held to honour the victims of Flight 93, which crashed in a field in Shanksville. The service will begin with a wreath laying ceremony, followed by a reading of the names of all 40 passengers and crew members who died
    • 13:00 EDT: Speeches and musical performances will begin, before another wreath laying ceremony at the Wall of Names
    • 19:30 EDT: 40 candle lanterns will be then be placed beside the wall in tribute to the victims

    In Virginia

    • 08:30 EDT: A community remembrance ceremony will be held in Manassas Park
    • 09:00 EDT: President Donald Trump will attend a ceremony at The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, where he is expected to give an address
  16. 9/11 victims remembered 25 years onpublished at 06:20 BST

    Flags and flowers adourn the names of victims of the 9/11 attacks at one of the memorial pools in New York CityImage source, Getty Images

    Today marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks, as the world comes together to remember the 2,977 people who lost their lives.

    On Tuesday 11 September 2001, suicide attackers hijacked four US passenger jets and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, which subsequently collapsed, and the Pentagon in Virginia.

    The fourth plane crashed in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back against the hijackers.

    Twenty five years on from the attacks, which claimed the lives of people from more than 90 countries, their impact continues to be felt around the world.

    A commemoration event is due to be held at 11:00 BST at the 9/11 memorial sculpture in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

    In the US, memorial events are being held throughout the day to honour those who lost their lives, including at the sites of the three attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

    The names of all 2,977 victims will be read out by relatives during a special ceremony at the World Trade Center at 08:30 EST (13:30 BST), which will be punctuated by seven moments of silence.

    We'll bring you the latest updates throughout the day on how the anniversary is being marked in the US and around the world.