World Trade Center Health Program
On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists associated with the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets in a series of suicide attacks on the United States, killing 2,996 people and injuring more than 6,000 others. Hijackers flew planes into two main towers of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of three buildings of the World Trade Center complex, and the Pentagon, resulting in the partial destruction of the western side in the building. The resulting dust cloud due to the collapse of the World Trade Center covered Manhattan for days and contained thousands of tons of toxic debris, including asbestos and other known carcinogens. Another hijacked plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania following an attempt by the passengers to retake control of the plane. No one in the airliners survived.
As of 2011, approximately 18,000 people have received medical treatment for illnesses related to toxic dust from the World Trade Center site. A study of rescue workers released in April 2010 found that all those studied had impaired lung functions, and that 30–40% were reporting little or no improvement in persistent symptoms that started within the first year of the attack. In 2011 a major research study showed significant long term medical and psychological effects among first responders to the World Trade Center site. These effects include elevated levels of asthma, sinusitis, Gastroesophageal reflux disease and posttraumatic stress disorder.
History of the United States (1991–2008)
On the morning of September 11, 2001, four airliners were hijacked by 19 members of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. The first hijacked airliner, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 A.M. (EST) in New York City; with a second, United Airlines Flight 175, striking the South Tower less than twenty minutes later at 9:03 A.M. (EST), resulting in the collapse of both 110 story skyscrapers, and the destruction of the World Trade Center. The third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon (the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense) in Arlington County, Virginia, demolishing a section of the outer southwest facing wall. After discovering that their plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was going to be used as a missile, passengers attempted to regain control of the plane which had been redirected towards Washington, D.C. However, after regaining control from the hijackers, the plane crashed near a rural community near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In total, the attacks killed 2,996 people—2,507 civilians, 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel, and the 19 terrorists. The 9/11 attack was the single deadliest international terrorist incident and the most devastating foreign attack on American soil since the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It refocused American attention to a long war on terrorism, beginning with an attack on al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters in Afghanistan.