‘Act of war’ to ‘Apocalypse’: How newspapers covered the 9/11 terror attacks

The al Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001 ruptured a sense of safety and plunged the West into wars still being fought today.

Sixteen years back on this day, more than 2,000 people were killed when two passenger jets destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, the symbol of New York’s financial wealth and confidence.

More than 2,000 people were killed when two passenger jets destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. (File Photo)

On September 11, 2001, the first foreign terrorist attack on US soil in nearly two centuries ruptured a sense of safety and plunged the West into wars still being fought today.

Two planes smashed into the World Trade Center and a third hit the Pentagon in Washington, killing 184 people. Forty more died after a fourth plane headed for Washington crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew apparently fought with the hijackers.

The image of the two towers being hit by the plane brought home the horror of the attack.Here’s a look at how the newspapers covered the terror attack that would define the course of modern history: