A memorial ceremony is under way at the site of New York's World Trade Center as the US marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
Vice-President JD Vance, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as well as former Presidents Joe Biden and Barak Obama are attending the commemoration
On 11 September 2001, 2,977 people were killed when hijackers crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
Another hijacked plane hit the Pentagon near Washington DC. A fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back
We've been hearing from people who were in New York on 9/11. Janice Brooks tells us she was being evacuated from her office, when the second plane plane hit with an "almighty thud"
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
The 9/11 National Memorial in Manhattan has just heard its first bell ring, prompting a moment of silence across the assembled crowd.
This marks the exact minute the first plane, Flight 11, hit the World Trade Center's North Tower on 11 September 2001.
The annual memorial for the 11 September attacks is now taking place in New York, at the original site where the Twin Towers once stood.
We'll bring you key moments here, and you can also watch live by pressing the play button above.
US Vice-President JD Vance has also just arrived at the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York.
He attends today without President Donald Trump, who is speaking at separate ceremony that will be held at the Pentagon later today.
As we wait for the ceremony to get under way, we've just seen some more New Yorkers and elected officials arriving, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo and current Governor Kathy Hochul.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also there, seen wiping away tears at the memorial.
Lutnick was dropping off his son on his first day of kindergarten on 9/11, avoiding the attacks that killed all of his 658 colleagues - including his brother Gary - who were working on the 101st to 105th floors of the World Trade Center at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Image source, Getty ImagesCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick lost hundreds of colleagues and his brother in the attacks
Image source, Getty ImagesNew York Governor Kathy Hochul wears a pin to honour 9/11 victims
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has just arrived at the ceremony
Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from the 9/11 Memorial in New York
Taylor Blythe, 26, was just one year old on 11 September 2001.
“A lot of us were just kids when it happened. We didn't really realize the impact it would have on us until we got older,” he says.
Growing up in Iowa, Blythe says he fell in love with the fire service, inspiring him to learn more about firefighters’ sacrifice on 9/11, and after.
“Guys just going to work, doing what they do, climbing up 110 flights, knowing that they're probably gonna die, but if they can save somebody, then that's just part of their job,” he says.
“That's why every year I climb 110 flights of stairs to honour them.”
Now, he serves as a volunteer firefighter.
Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from the 9/11 Memorial in New York
James Stanley, 41, is part of a group of runners who together ran from Shanksville, Pennsylvania to the Pentagon in Virginia to the Twin Towers in New York City - all the sites planes where the four planes crashed on 11 September 2001.
The total trip, organised by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, clocks in at 485 miles (780km), run in multiple legs by participants over the course of several days. Stanley himself ran 125 of those miles - approximately one marathon per day.
As a Navy veteran of 17 years, Stanley says this is “just my way of saying thanks and remembering”.
Stanley was in high school when the 9/11 attacks happened, and he remembers watching the TV in utter disbelief after a plane hit the North Tower.
At first, he says, he thought it must have been an accident, until he saw the second plane hitting the South Tower.
He says he wants younger generations to remember that “a lot of heroes died that day".
Image source, Getty ImagesAway from New York, leaders from across the world have also been paying their respects to those that died in the 11 September attacks.
Former and current New York leaders and officials have begun arriving at the 9/11 Memorial plaza of the World Trade Center ahead of the commemoration ceremony (which gets under way at 8:30 ET/12:30 BST).
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who led the city's response to the 11 September attacks, have all been seen arriving.
Image source, Getty ImagesNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives at the 9/11 ceremony
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - who led the city at the time of the attacks - pays tribute to the victims
Image source, Getty ImagesNew York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is attending the ceremony as well
Image source, Getty ImagesHouse of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is in attendance
Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from the 9/11 Memorial in New York
Image source, ReutersA steady flood of people have been gathering at the 9/11 Memorial in New York throughout the morning
It’s an unusually quiet morning near the 9/11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan. The sombre, reverent atmosphere feels palpable.
Streets are closed off several blocks outward from the memorial, where the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony will be held. Onlookers and mourners can be seen standing near the gates, and there’s a large police presence.
In a nearby park, dozens of men in uniform are gathered, quietly chatting with friends and family.
Nearby, a large group of people wearing “United We Run” shirts hold up American flags.
Still, commuters and food stand workers are going about their day in the midst of the quiet gatherings around them.
Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have also just released a statement to commemorate those who lost their lives on 9/11 and in the aftermath.
"If you were young in 2001, or weren’t even born yet, it can be hard to imagine what 9/11 felt like," they write in the statement. "The heartbreak of the families whose loved ones were taken with such swiftness and cruelty."
The former president and first lady say that they were "remembering those we lost that day, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed".
"And we hope Americans everywhere remember the true lesson of 9/11: that we can survive even our darkest days as long as we move forward as one nation and one people," they add.
The White House has just released a statement on social media, saying a quarter of a century has passed since the "peace of our Nation was shattered by terrorists".
"Today, we remember the 2,977 precious lives taken from us, honor the heroes who answered the call, & keep their families in the heart of our Nation," the post on X reads.
"Above all, we must ensure the memory of 9/11 never fades, but is carried from one generation of Americans to the next. We will never forget," the post says.
Katie Williams
Live reporter
The memorial event under way in London
Today marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks that killed 2,977 people.
Memorial events are taking place on both sides of the Atlantic, with commemorations already having taken place at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
Earlier, PM Andy Burnham paid tribute to those killed, including 67 Britons, saying: "I know the grief is still felt just as deeply today".
Ceremonies in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington will begin shortly at 08:30 EDT (12:30 GMT, 13:30 BST), remembering those who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and when hijacked Flight 93 crashed in a field in Shanksville.
The thousands who have died from illnesses related to dust and smoke in the years since 9/11 will also be specially remembered, with a new moment being added to the New York ceremony. Six bell tolls - commemorating the moment each plane crashed and tower fell - will be increased to seven.
We've been sharing accounts from families and survivors throughout the day.
Janice Brooks says the "horror film" scream of a woman hit by debris as they escaped the South Tower "lives in [her] head", while terminally-ill photographer Paul Berriff says he "thought [he'd] done well" by escaping that day until he was diagnosed three years ago with pulmonary fibrosis.
Image source, ReutersFDNY firefighters have begun arriving at the 9/11 Memorial plaza ahead of observances
More than 1,200 firefighters from across the world climbed 110 floors - the same height of the World Trade Center towers - to honour the US firefighters who died in the attacks and aftermath on 11 September 2001.
Several participants were from the UK. The firefighters were in their full uniform and equipment for the climb during humid 27C (80.6F) temperatures at the Atlanta Braves stadium.
Most of the 343 firefighters who died were killed when the towers collapsed.
"To see a plane going into a building and still go in and not know what you're going to find, that's unmatched, that sort of bravery," firefighter Beth Jones of Herefordshire, said ahead of the climb.
Read more of our coverage here.
We're continuing to bring you more memories of the people who experienced the 9/11 attacks, including Jay Jonas, a New York firefighter.
Jonas and his crew were heading down the North Tower after the South Tower collapsed during the 9/11 attacks, when they found Josephine Harris.
As they arrived at the fourth floor, Harris fell and told him: "Leave me, get away from me, don't touch me."
In the video below, Jonas describes the moment he made what has been described as a "monumental decision".
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, chairman of the National September 11 Memorial, King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial during a state visit on 29 April 2026
King Charles III and Queen Camilla recently paid tribute to the victims of the 11 September attacks while on their state visit to the US.
The royal couple visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York and laid flowers at the South Tower Memorial Pool.
A handwritten note said: "We honour the memory for those who so tragically lost their lives on 11th September 2001.
"We stand in enduring solidarity with the American people and in the face of their profound loss. Charles R Camilla.”
They were welcomed by memorial chairman and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and current Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who we just heard from.
The King and Queen had conversations with first responders, representatives of charities who have supported the families of victims and educational groups who are preserving the memory of what happened in 2001.
Image source, ReutersNew York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has paid tribute to those killed in the 9/11 attacks, as well as the "first responders, office workers and strangers who ran toward danger to help each other".
Writing on X, he calls on people to "remember the extraordinary compassion, resilience and bravery" that carried New York through its "darkest day".
A video message shared with his post describes 11 September as a "day of immeasurable loss", with Mamdani adding that New Yorkers have an "obligation" to those who died to "care for one another" and "build a city worthy of their courage".
Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from Manhattan
As preparations get under way for the ceremony here at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, we even hear bagpipes in the background.
Several NYPD vehicles have cordoned off the area and fire trucks are also present.
This year the museum says it wants to remind the younger generations about these attacks and the importance of not letting it becoming a distant memory of the past.
Its website reads: "As we commemorate this anniversary, a new generation will learn about the unimaginable loss we experienced and the inspiring stories of bravery, compassion, unity, and service that we witnessed, and have rippled through the decades."
Stephen Evans
Former BBC's North America business correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesStephen Evans was waiting for a meeting on the ground floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit the North Tower. Here, he recalls the“spirit of togetherness” felt in the city in the aftermath of the attack.
I was on the ground floor of the South Tower when the North Tower was hit. Even today, a certain kind of metallic crunch makes me flinch.
What strikes me now is the transformation: the days after September 11, 2001 felt like a different America from the one I read about now. New York City felt noble in its unity - it's a strange word to use, but the way people came together made me feel better about humanity.
The two planes going into the two landmarks dominating the city felt like an attack on all of us. People soon gathered in their thousands, silently with candles, in Union Square. Mayor Giuliani seemed like a leader who led us all. "I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop us," got it exactly right.
A few days after the attacks, the Stars and Stripes was everywhere, including in a Middle Eastern bakery near where I lived in the East Village. People across the political spectrum felt the flag was theirs.
I remember that spirit of togetherness: sharing a taxi away from Ground Zero with a woman who was trying to get to a hospital because she was going into labour. She gave me her husband's phone number so I could tell him she was OK.
Image source, Getty ImagesTerry Strada (C) pictured previously with others who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks
Terry Strada's son, the youngest of three, was just four days old when her husband Tom was killed on 11 September 2001.
Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, earlier told Radio 4's Today programme she received a phone call from her husband - at work on the 104th floor of the North Tower - after the first plane hit.
"He sounded very frantic" and "everyone was screaming" in the background, she said. They exchanged "goodbyes and I love yous" but Strada didn't know it would be the last time she would ever speak to Tom.
But when she saw the second plane hit the South Tower on TV, she understood what was happening: "I knew that there was no way he was going to get out."
She describes the moment the North Tower fell as "probably the most horrific part of the day, knowing he was in there and knowing he was gone".
Asked about the work she has done since with the coalition of families - which is calling for answers to unresolved questions about the attacks - she says she doesn't look at herself as "brave" but "just needed to know" the answers.
Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from Manhattan
As dawn breaks over New York, here are some photos from around the 9/11 memorial in downtown Manhattan - where security preparations are under way.
The families of the victims will start gathering here shortly.
Among those expected to attend are Vice-President JD Vance, and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
