25 Years After 9/11, Related Deaths Now Triple Attack Toll

NBC New York reports a seventh moment of silence as the WTC Health Program says 9,000-plus people have died from 9/11-related illnesses.

New York marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with the traditional ceremonies in lower Manhattan, but this year's observance carried a change. Six moments of silence have traditionally been observed — four marking the moment each hijacked flight crashed and two marking the towers' collapses. This year, NBC New York reports, a seventh moment of silence was added to memorialize those who have lost their lives to 9/11-related health issues. Nearly 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, in the deadliest terror attack in history, with nearly 2,800 killed in lower Manhattan when two jets struck the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and both collapsed.

The reason for the addition is stark. According to NBC New York, the WTC Health Program says more than 9,000 people have now died from 9/11-related health problems — triple the number killed in the attacks themselves. The after-effects of that day moved front and center this week when, per NBC New York, the city released 170,000 pages of never-before-public documents suggesting officials knew of air quality risks at ground zero. The documents add a new layer to a quarter-century debate over what responders and survivors were exposed to in the aftermath.

The scale of the disaster remains hard to grasp. NBC New York's anniversary recap notes that when the first plane hit, an estimated 17,400 people were inside the two towers. No one survived above the impact zone in the North Tower, while 18 people escaped from above the impact zone in the South Tower. Four al-Qaida hijackers' teams flew two planes into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and crashed a fourth in a Pennsylvania field amid a heroic passenger rebellion. More than three-quarters of the victims died in the lower Manhattan disaster.

The anniversary resonated beyond the United States. CBC's The National covered how Americans and Canadians marked 25 years since the attacks together, including a Peace Arch Peace Garden ceremony affirming what organizers called an 'unbreakable bond' between the two countries. CBC also highlighted former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien's memorial speech, telling audiences 'Never mistake our generosity for weakness.' With health-related deaths now far outpacing the attacks' immediate toll and 170,000 pages of air-quality documents newly public, pressure over responder health care and government accountability is likely to define the next chapter of the 9/11 legacy.