Washington, Sep 11 (EFE).- The president of the United States and his wife led a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington.
On the 16th anniversary of the attacks, the first with Donald Trump as head of state, the president and first lady Melania Trump participated in the ceremony accompanied by White House personnel.
The moment of silence took place, as in previous years, at 8:46 am local time to mark the instant when the first hijacked plane crashed into the North Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center.
Trump and the first lady will travel later in the day to the Pentagon to attend a ceremony there in honor of the more than 3,000 victims of the attacks and their families.
Besides the two planes that were crashed into the World Trade Center by al-Qaida terrorists, a third plane was slammed into one of the facades of the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense in Washington, killing 125 people inside the building and the 64 people aboard the plane.
Also on that fateful day, a fourth plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as the passengers were trying to subdue the hijackers.
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife will be in Shanksville Monday to pay tribute to the heroes of that United Airlines Flight 93 and their families.