15 years since 9/11
Almost 3,000 people, including Romanians, were killed 15 years ago in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Services and ceremonies were held across the world to remember that day.
Valentin Țigău, 12.09.2016, 13:36
The United States commemorated at the weekend 15 years since the jihadist attacks of September 11, 2001 that killed almost 3,000 people and led to years of war and terror for more millions of people across the world. At the White House, president Barack Obama marked, at 8.46, on Sunday, the moment when a hijacked plane crashed into the northern tower of the World Trade Center in New York, as part of the bloodiest terrorist attack on US soil. The New York fire fighters paid tribute to 343 of their ranks, who died 15 years ago. Later, the names of all the 3,000 victims were read at a remembrance service held at Ground Zero, on the site formerly occupied by the World Trade Center towers.
The overwhelming majority of the victims were civilians, including citizens of 90 different countries. Five American nationals of Romanian origin were among them: Eugen Gabriel Lazar, Corina and Alexandru Liviu Stan, Joshua Poptean and Ana Fosteris. A Moldovan citizen of Romanian origin, Arkady Zaltsman was also killed. A famous architect, Arkady Zaltsman designed the Parliament Palace in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Washington, no one forgot the horror of what happened 15 years ago. 75,000 people are still suffering from mental and physical disorders, including members of the emergency teams who inhaled carcinogenic substances in their efforts to save lives. In his weekly address to the national radio station, president Barack Obama called for respect for democratic values and for avoiding simplistic answers to the challenge of terrorism, in a reference to the anti-migration rhetoric of the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Official statements were also issued in Romania on the 15th commemoration of the 9/11 attacks. The country’s foreign minister, Lazar Comanescu, sent a message to the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, expressing solidarity with the survivors of the attacks, the families of the victims and all those affected by the tragic events 15 years ago.
Recently, the House of Representatives in the US Congress approved a bill allowing the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia despite a veto threat by the president. 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi nationals, although the government in Riyadh has constantly denied that Saudi citizens were among the attackers, with subsequent inquiries uncovering no link between the attacks and the Saudi state.
