Twin beams of light commemorate 9/11 victims
NEW YORK (AP) — Two powerful light beams have lit up the lower Manhattan skyline as part of the annual“Tribute in Light” installation commemorating those who lost their lives on 9/11.
The twin beams can reach up to four miles into the sky and are comprised of 88 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs positioned in two 48-foot squares, echoing the shape of the Twin Towers. The lights will fade away at dawn today.
This year the “Tribute in Light” is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The memorial plaza will be open to the public until midnight.
Meanwhile, relatives and friends of the people lost in the Sept. 11 terror attacks have finished reciting their names at a solemn ceremony at the World Trade Center in New York City.
Tuesday’s ceremony to commemorate the 17th anniversary included moments of silence and tolling bells. Some of the youngest readers weren’t born when their loved ones were killed.
Victims’ relatives, survivors, rescuers and dignitaries gathered to remember the deadliest terror attack on American soil. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.
Others have become sick or died from exposure to toxins released when the twin towers collapsed.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania walked to an overlook in Shanksville to look at the field where a commercial airliner crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. All 40 passengers and crew members aboard the plane were killed.
Trump addressed several hundred dignitaries and family members during a remembrance ceremony onTuesday.
It was his first visit as president to the Pennsylvania memorial site.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.