World commemorates 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

Washinton, Sep 11: Biden to visit three attack sites 9/11 survivor tells DW: 'No way to rationalize what happened' Queen Elizabeth and UK Prime Minister Boris offer condolences

Leaders around the world recognized the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which left 2,977 people dead. Here's a look at how DW reported the attacks at the time.

Read below for the latest:

Biden commemorates 9/11 with visits to attack sites, calls for unity

Biden is set to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 with stops at all three attack sites.

He will begin the day in New York, where he will attend a ceremony at the site where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood. He will then travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 crashed into a field after passengers overtook the hijackers and prevented another target from being hit.

The president will end the day in the Washington DC area to visit the Pentagon, which was also hit by a plane on 9/11.

Biden was not scheduled to deliver remarks at any of the sites, but he released a video on Friday to express his condolences.

"It's so hard. Whether it's the first year or the 20th, children have grown up without parents and parents have suffered without children," Biden said.

The president noted the heroism that was seen on the day of the attack and the period that followed.

"We also saw something all too rare: a true sense of national unity," he added.

Survivor recounts 9/11 experience

A survivor told DW that there was simply no way for her to rationalize what had happened on the day of the attacks. "It is the most irrational act when people take their personal animus out on civilians," Lauren Manning, who was in the World Trade Center's North Tower when the first jet slammed into the building, told DW.

When United Flight 711 slammed into the tower, a fire engulfed Manning. She experienced 80% burns to her body.

"That I actually did survive was because of tenacity, resilience, luck and less luck than many had that day, who were not scathed or who weren't there. But I knew as I watched bodies come pummeling to the ground that some of those were my colleagues, my friends from Cantor Fitzgerald [financial services company], and I had the slimmest chance to fight."

Manning also touted the acts of bravery and heroism that she witnessed. "The most dominant emotion for me is the heroism that people who were not clothed in uniforms showed each other that day, the grace of colleagues and friends and strangers helping each other."

Queen Elizabeth offers condolences

Britain's Queen Elizabeth said that her prayers remained with the vicims and survivors.

"My thoughts and prayers — and those of my family and the entire nation — remain with the victims, survivors and families affected, as well as the first responders and rescue workers called to duty," the queen said in a message to US President

Joe Biden.

"My visit to the site of the World Trade Center in 2010 is held fast in my memory."

"It reminds me that as we honour those from many nations, faiths and backgrounds who lost their lives, we also pay tribute to the resilience and determination of the communities who joined together to rebuild."

Johnson hails US as 'world's greatest democracy'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said that the Sept. 11 attackers failed to make people in open societies live in "permanent fear." In a video message to be played at a ceremony on Saturday, Johnson said the US was the "world's greatest democracy" and it was a reflection of its openness that "people of almost every nationality and religion" were among the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.

"But while the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat persists today, we can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy; they failed to drive our nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values, or to live in permanent fear,'' Johnson said.

Sixty-Seven British nationals were among those killed.

Moon offers 'deepest sympathies'

South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed his "deepest sympathies" and says South Korea will continue to support the US as a key ally in its efforts to fight terrorism.

In a message posted on Twitter and Facebook on Saturday, Moon said the "shock of that day still remains as deep wounds in the hearts of so many'' and that "no violence can win against peace and inclusiveness.''

Source: DW