Twenty-five years after 9/11, old claims about the collapse of the Twin Towers and Building 7 are spreading online again. But what do official investigations and the BBC’s own explanation say about the viral claims?
The viral claim about the Twin Towers
A claim questioning what caused the Twin Towers to collapse is circulating again on Facebook, 25 years after the 9/11 attacks.
The posts share an image of the North Tower during its construction. Text added to the image says, "If you really believe a little plane made this engineering marvel collapse twice you need to do some research," according to Full Fact.
People have also shared other claims about Building 7 on X. One post said, "Yearly reminder that Building 7 was brought down by Israeli Mossad, not 'office fires'." The post claims that the building was deliberately brought down, rather than collapsing.
Deep Dive
What evidence supports the official explanation for the collapse of the Twin Towers?
Why does the early BBC report about Building 7's collapse create confusion among conspiracy theorists?
How did the CIA's warnings about bin Laden prior to 9/11 contribute to the understanding of the attacks?
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What official investigations found
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Why Mamdani and AOC's 4-second 9/11 memorial moment sparked backlash- Explained
What official investigations found
{{/usCountry}}Official investigations into the 9/11 attacks found that the Twin Towers collapsed because the planes caused structural damage and the fires that followed weakened the buildings, according to Full Fact.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report said the heat from the burning jet fuel put more stress on the damaged parts of the buildings and weakened them further. The report concluded that the added stress and damage were enough to cause both towers to collapse.
A second investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology concluded that the collapse of the buildings "resulted from structural damage from direct and indirect effects of aircraft impact and the ensuing fires," as per Full Fact.
The Building 7 claim
Some posts on social media also claim that, “Never forget the fact that the BBC reported Building 7 had collapsed 20 minutes before it happened.”
As per Full Fact, similar claims have been fact-checked before, with some people suggesting that the early BBC report proves the 9/11 attacks were "scripted" or that Building 7 collapsed for a reason other than the terrorist attack.
Another user wrote on X, “I'm not a scientist by training… but the BBC anchor announcing Building 7 collapsed, 20+ minutes before it did, all the while it is literally visible on the screen behind her was enough for me.”
According to Full Fact, the BBC did report that World Trade Center 7, a 47-storey building near the main World Trade Center complex, had collapsed almost 30 minutes before it actually fell. However, it was a reporting error.
The BBC has addressed the mistake several times over the years.