America stops to remember 9/11

Last updated at 08:57 12 September 2006


The US stopped to remember the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11 2001 that changed the world forever.

Five years after hijackers in four passenger jets killed 2,973 people, a series of memorial events took place.

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At Ground Zero in New York, relatives of those who died began gathering early this morning to leave flowers at the site where the World Trade Centre's twin towers were destroyed.

Firefighters whose colleagues died in the attacks also came to the building to remember those who gave up their lives while trying to save others.

Just before a moment's silence, led by mayor Michael Bloomberg, a choir sang the US national anthem as officers held up stars and stripes flags.

New York fire chief Bob Senn, who lost his whole crew, told Sky News: "The one thing I see in my mind when I think of them is that empty chair at the dinner table, fathers who won't see their children grow up and parents who won't see the fruits of their efforts."

President George Bush, who attended the sombre ceremony, spent the morning in the city having breakfast with firefighters and emergency workers.

Later he visited the Pentagon, also targeted by the hijackers, and the site in Pennsylvania where a fourth plane crashed. In the evening he addressed the nation from the Oval Office.

A moment of silence took place at the site where each crash took place. Rudolph Giuliani, who was hailed for his courageous response to the disaster as mayor of New York, told ABC's Good Morning America that for the memory of the victims "we have to remain vigilant".

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