Photos of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

Twenty years ago, 19 people trained by Al-Qaeda carried out a coordinated terrorist attack on the United States of America. It took several years to develop a plan for a terrorist attack. The terrorists simultaneously seized 4 large passenger planes with the intention of destroying the most famous sights of the United States with them, taking as many lives as possible. Three planes reached their targets, the fourth fell on a field in Pennsylvania. 

In one day, these acts of mass murder killed about 3,000 people from 57 countries of the world. Of these, more than 400 died – firefighters, police and ambulance crews. This event received the maximum coverage in the entire history of the mass media, and even twenty years later it is difficult to look at these pictures. The attacks and the reaction to them have largely shaped the world in which we live today, and therefore it is very important to look at these photos and remember what happened that day. 

View of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan covered with clouds of smoke and dust from Jersey City, New Jersey, September 15, 2001. (AP Photo/Dan Loh)

Smoke billows from a hole in the wall and from the upper floors of the north tower of the WTC in New York, after the collision with it of American Airlines flight 11. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

United Airlines flight 175 a second before the collision with the south tower of the WTC. The North Tower is already on fire. (Reuters/Sean Adair)

An explosion in the south tower during a collision with the plane of United Airlines Flight 175 in New York, September 11, 2001. The plane crashed into a building at a speed of 945 km / h (Reuters/Sean Adair)

The collision of the plane with the south tower of the WTC. There were 56 passengers on board (including 5 hijackers). (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The explosion of 3,800 liters of fuel remaining on board the plane during the collision with the south tower of the WTC in New York. (AP Photo/Ernesto Mora)

Two women, fighting for each other, look at the WTC buildings burning after the terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Ernesto Mora)

Behind the Empire State Building, you can see the burning twin towers. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

A cloud of smoke from the WTC buildings in lower Manhattan. A satellite image from the US Geological Survey, flying over the area around 9: 30 on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. (AP Photo/USGS)

People hanging from the windows of the north tower of the WTC after the attack. (Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images)

A man jumps to his death from the north tower of the WTC filled with smoke and flames. (Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images)

A man jumps from the upper floors of the burning north tower of the WTC. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A man jumps from the north tower of the WTC. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A surveillance camera at the Pentagon captured the explosion, which was caused by a collision with a hijacked American Airlines plane with 58 passengers and 6 crew members on board, on September 11, 2001 . (AP Photo)

Flames and smoke erupt from the Pentagon building after the explosion. (AP Photo/Will Morris)

Firefighters extinguish the Pentagon after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Hyungwon Kang) 

Medics are helping victims near the Pentagon, after a hijacked airliner crashed into the southwest corner of the building. (Reuters/U.S. Navy Photo/Journalist 1st Class Mark D. Faram)

The wall of the Pentagon after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Smoke billows from the towers of the WTC after two hijacked planes crashed into them during a terrorist attack on New York. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

At 9: 59 am on September 11, 2001, 56 minutes after the collision, the south tower of the WTC begins to collapse. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova)

The south tower of the WTC collapses, and the debris buries nearby streets. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Police officers and pedestrians run for cover during a terrorist attack in New York. (Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images)

People covered in dust walk through the rubble near the WTC in New York on September 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova)

Maru Stahl from Somerset, Pennsylvania, shows a picture he took of the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93. The plane crashed near Shanksville, and Stahl, hearing the explosion, went to the crash site and took a picture before rescuers cordoned off the area. The plane crashed in Pennsylvania shortly after the attacks on New York. (Reuters/Jason Cohn)

Aerial image of the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, taken by the FBI on September 12, 2001. The Boeing 757 was flying from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco when it suddenly made a sharp turn near Cleveland, and crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 44 people were killed. This plane was one of four that were part of the plan for the September 11 terrorist attack, and the only one that did not reach its goal. (AP Photo/FBI)

Firefighters and rescuers investigate the crash site of Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (AP Pho­to/Tri­bune-Democ­ra­t/­David Lloyd)

At 10:28 am on September 11, 2001, 102 minutes after the plane collided with her, the north tower of the WTC in New York collapses. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)

The collapse of the WTC tower on September 11, 2001 in New York. (Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty Images)

A photo of the New York Police Department shows how ash and smoke spread over Manhattan during the collapse of the north tower of the WTC. (AP Photo/NYPD, Det. Greg Semendinger)

Dust, smoke and debris fill the air during the fall of the WTC tower on September 11, 2001 in New York. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Dust, smoke and ash envelop neighboring buildings after the fall of both WTC towers on September 11, 2001 in New York. (AP Photo/NYPD, Det. Greg Semendinger)

People are moving away from the collapsed towers, fleeing from the smoke and dust. As a result of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in New York, both 110-storey towers of the WTC collapsed. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)

The north tower of the WTC turns into a cloud of dust and debris half an hour after the fall of the south tower on September 11, 2001. The picture was taken from Jersey City, New Jersey, from the opposite bank of the Hudson River. (Reuters/Ray Stubblebine)

People make their way through the rubble near the ruins of the WTC on September 11, 2001 in New York. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova)

A priest helps people after the fall of the WTC towers in New York on September 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova)

People cover their faces from the dust, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to get away from the cloud of dust and smoke that covered Manhattan after the terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Daniel Shanken) 

People on the street near the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A sheriff's deputy helps a woman who was injured during the September 11 terrorist attack on the WTC in New York. (AP Photo/Gulnara Samiolava)

A man sobs as he watches the fall of the WTC tower in New York on September 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Shawn Baldwin)

A firefighter rests on a bench in lower Manhattan during work at the site of the fall of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Matt Moyer)

Construction debris and ash from the fall of the WTC towers as a result of the terrorist attack fill the streets of Manhattan, turning the view of the city into a picture of the Apocalypse. Buildings collapsed, burying thousands of people under the rubble. (AP Photo/Boudicon One)

A firefighter calls for the help of rescuers to sort out the wreckage of the WTC. The picture was taken on September 15, 2001. (Reuters/U.S. Navy/Journalist 1st Class Pre­ston Keres)

The landing gear of one of the hijacked planes lies on the street next to the destroyed buildings of the WTC in New York, September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Firefighters searching for survivors under the rubble of the twin towers after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Matt Moyer)

The light barely breaks through the clouds of smoke and ash at the site of the collapse of the WTC towers. (AP Photo/Baldwin)

New York firefighters extinguish the building 7 of the World Trade Center, destroyed along with the twin towers during the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

A group of firefighters near the ruins of the south tower of the WTC in New York, September 11, 2001. (Reuters/Peter Morgan)

Debris covers the rails in the New York Subway tunnel on lines 1 and 9 of the Cortland Street station under the WTC. According to representatives of the city transport of New York, the damage was so severe that more than one mile of the tunnel had to be restored. (AP Photo/New York City Transit)

Rescuers conduct a search and rescue operation for victims, descending under the wreckage of the WTC on Friday, September 14, 2001. (Reuters/U.S. Navy/Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Jim Watson)

A man stands in the ruins of the WTC towers and tries to call for survivors, asks if anyone needs help. (Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images)