On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a ceremony in London remembered all the victims, including the 67 British citizens who died. The gathering took place beside a memorial sculpture made from steel that fell from the World Trade Center, now standing at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The event, hosted by the UK charity Since 9/11, heard stories from 25 years ago and stressed the importance of keeping the 2001 tragedy in public memory. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, in a video address, said: "We will never forget these terrible events, but we refuse to be defined by them."
A Family Tragedy Remembered
Among those present was Liam McKenna, who lost his uncle and aunt. His uncle Michael Egan, 51, had moved from Hull to the US eight years before the attack and worked at the professional services firm Aon. Michael's sister Christine Egan, 55, had been a nurse in Canada and was visiting her brother in New York at the time.
The two Britons were on the 103rd floor and both died during the attack. Liam, speaking to the Mirror, recalled hearing the news as a teenager: "I remember I was 15 years old and I had heard the news story on the radio and I heard about planes hitting a tower somewhere in America, and it all seemed very distant to me. I remember going down to where my parents were, and they had it on the news there and I remember distinctly my mum saying to me, 'your uncle Mike works in that tower'. And very quickly it changed from being this distant news story to being this personal family tragedy."
Despite living across the Atlantic, Liam said his aunt and uncle used to visit and stayed close with the family. He said: "They always had time for the family, always had time for me as a young boy and my little brother." He remembered Christine and Michael saying "I just really distinctly remember how kind they were." He added: "They are still well loved."
Survivors Reflect on Shared Grief
Christian Fisher, who was 13 when he survived the 7/7 Tavistock Square bombing near his school, told the Mirror that on 9/11 he was with his American friend at London Zoo, whose dad was at the World Trade Center during the attack. He said: "We didn't know what was happening in terms of 9/11 but I remember him being very anxious, frightened and being completely powerless to do anything about the situation." The dad survived, and Christian and his childhood friend are still friends 25 years on.
Christian said: "One thing I have learnt from over the years, not just from my attack and meeting some survivors of 7/7, but survivors of many attacks including 9/11 is that grief is certainly not an exclusive emotion to have, it is a universal thing. There are many ways people can bond although I think shared experiences, surviving a terrorist attack, witnessing being bereaved is such a powerful way to really be understood by someone else." Fisher helped to set up the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism.
Intelligence Partnership and a Warning
Neil Basu QPM, former National Lead of counter terror policing, told the Mirror the world was "more dangerous" and argued that intelligence would always be put above politics. He said: "The world is probably more dangerous than it's ever been, not less dangerous. That is the sobering thing here today." He added that "America will always be our closest intelligence partner", saying: "In terms of our operating capability together, we will always put that over and above national interest politics."
In his speech, Mr Basu said: "Our fight is to recognise our common humanity and to teach every child what that phenomenal MP Jo Cox taught us all, that we have far more in common than that which divides us, may she rest in peace. If we fail to listen to her, Bin Laden has won."
