On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. All told, nearly 3,000 people were killed as two of the planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
Only six people who were in the World Trade Center’s twin towers at the time of their collapse survived. The west side of the Pentagon military headquarters was set ablaze from jet fuel from the crash, causing a structural collapse of part of the building, killing everyone aboard the plane and another 125 military personnel and civilians on the ground. Back in NYC, close to 10,000 more people were treated for injuries due to the building collapses.