The World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. It featured landmark twin towers, which opened on April 4, 1973, and were the tallest buildings in the world. The other five buildings were completed between 1975 and 1985.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda-affiliated hijackers flew two Boeing 767 jets into the twin towers in a coordinated act of terrorism. After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower collapsed, followed 29 minutes later by the North Tower. Falling debris and fires led to the partial or complete collapse of all other buildings in the complex and caused catastrophic damage to surrounding structures. The attacks killed 2,606 people in and around the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft.Photograph: Carol M. Highsmith; edit: Soerfm