Europa Newswire

United Nations, December 23 2011

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid a visit to the National September 11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan to offer respects to those killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

The Secretary-General, flanked by a small number of senior officials toured the newly inaugurated Memorial and placed a flower wreath by the Survivor Tree, a pear tree unearthed alive from the rubble, and replanted at the Memorial.

After a moment of silence, Ban visited the two reflecting pools, which sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood, and are framed by a ring of bronze plaques showing the names of the victims.

They are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America.

The Secretary-General, who had a long-standing invitation to visit the site, said that he was “most humbled to stand by the reflecting pools where so many people were killed by terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001”

He recalled the events of that morning and the “total surprise” he felt “that people were attacking the citizens of the United States.”

He extended his solidarity “to such brave and courageous people who paid the ultimate price because of terrorism” and reaffirmed a “strong determined will” to fight against the scourge.

Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.

Source: UNifeed