US marks 25 years since 9/11 as Mamdani honours fallen FDNY heroes

Americans on Friday began commemorating the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, with solemn ceremonies planned across the country to honour those killed when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani began the day by paying homage to the more than 300 members of the city’s fire department who risked their lives while responding to the burning twin towers and saving countless lives.

Ceremonies were scheduled at the 9/11 Memorial in New York and elsewhere, where the names of those who died in the attacks will be read aloud and moments of silence observed at the exact times when the planes crashed. The observances form part of a nationwide remembrance of one of the deadliest terror attacks in US history.

In a post on X, Mamdani said, “I was proud to begin this day of remembrance alongside @FDNY Commissioner Bonsignore @FDNYFC by laying a wreath at the foot of the Firemen's Memorial. For more than a century, this monument has honoured the heroes who risk their lives to keep us safe.”

He said that during the attacks on September 11, 2001, 343 members of the New York City Fire Department “answered that call. They climbed the stairs of the World Trade Centre knowing the danger ahead and never hesitated to put their lives on the line for their fellow New Yorkers. Today, we remember their courage and honour their memory and the profound legacy they leave behind.” Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, made the remarks as tributes were paid to the thousands killed after planes hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists rammed into the twin towers, while one crashed into the Pentagon and another in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought and overtook the hijackers.

The 9/11 Memorial said it observes seven moments of silence, marking when each of the World Trade Centre towers was struck and fell, as well as the times of the Pentagon attack and the crash of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, as the US once again pauses to remember the victims and those who responded that day.