This blog will contain images from that awful day.
Never Forget.
On September 11,1941 the construction of the Pentagon had started. Sixty year later, terrorists tried to destroy it.
An image etched forever in my mind.
After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, killing more than 800 people in and around the building.
People watch from Jersey City, N.J. as the North Tower dissolves in a cloud of dust and debris about a half hour after the South Tower collapsed. More than 1,600 people in and around the building are killed. Only 102 minutes passed between the time of the first plane crash and the collapse of the second tower.
Father Mychal Judge was designated as ‘Victim 0001’, effectively recognising him as the first official casualty of the attack.
Finishing this blog with one of the saddest stories of that day.
The attack on the World Trade Centre in New York touched Corkman Mr John Clifford’s family in a particularly cruel way.
Just hours after learning that his brother, Ronnie, who worked in the centre, had survived the disaster, Mr Clifford was told that his sister, Ruth, was on one of the planes that smashed into the trade centre’s twin towers.
Speaking at his home in Togher, Cork, about the death of his sister, Ruth McCourt, and her four-year-old daughter, Juliana, Mr Clifford said it was Ronnie who came to mind when he heard the news of the attack.
He immediately tried to get through to Ronnie’s wife in New Jersey. She told him his brother had escaped from the south tower with seconds to spare.
“She told me that Ronnie had been at a meeting and that when he stepped outside the office, which was on the ground floor, the woman immediately in front of him was met by a massive fireball.
“He tried to cover her with a cloth, but she had suffered horrific injuries already.
“Then there was another explosion and people rushed Ronnie and the woman he was helping out of the building.
“I think she died later. It seems that he was incredibly lucky to get out of there alive and he was able to ring home to say that he was alright.
“The problem was this all happened before the buildings collapsed and we had to wait another four hours to discover whether or not he was still safe.”
Mr Clifford described how news filtered through to Cork that Ruth and Juliana had boarded a flight at Logan Airport in Boston bound for Los Angeles.
Realising that a flight out of Logan had been hijacked, he asked a friend to go to the airport on his behalf.
His friend was told by a United Airlines official that Ms McCourt was on the flight. Mr. Clifford said his sister had spent most of the past 30 years in the US and was living in Connecticut with her husband, David, a retired businessman.
“They had Juliana late in life and they were both retired from business and enjoying their daughter and their lives. My mother Paula is also living in Connecticut and she used to be the nanny for Juliana.
Both David and my mother are absolutely devastated at what has happened.
“I think Ruth wanted to go to Los Angeles on the same flight as her friend, Page, but she was unable to get on that flight because it was full and so she had to wait for the second one, which was hijacked.
“United Airlines have been in touch and we are waiting for them to ring again to find out when we can go to America to be with the rest of the family.
“We are totally shocked and I think the reality is only creeping in now that we realise the extent of the tragedy after the immediate shock.”
Mr Clifford’s other brother, Mark, who runs a security firm in Cork, said the chain of events leading to the death of his sister and the near death of his brother Ronnie was “absolutely staggering”.
“No words could describe what we feel about this,” he said.
His brother Ron Clifford bravely assisted a severely injured woman at the World Trade Center on September 11, not realising his sister Ruth and niece Juliana, aboard United Flight 175, were tragically killed.
On July 22 2011 the thirty-two year-old Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian fascist, drove into the city center of Oslo where he placed a car bomb at the government quarter. The bomb went off at 3:25 pm killing eight people and wounding thirty others severely. The office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg from the Labor Party was badly damaged, and parts of the governmental quarter are to this day still inaccessible. Thereafter the same terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, drove to the tiny of Island Utøya, 38 kilometers outside Oslo. Here the annual youth camp of the Labor Youth League was taking place, as it had done each year since 1950. Dressed up as a police officer he was allowed to enter the camp where he shortly after killed an unarmed police officer, the one person being in charge of the security on the Island. The next hour the youth camp was transformed into a nightmare where teenagers in hiding, or on the run, were systematically tracked down and executed. Most of them were shot in the head or in the face at close range. From 17.22 to 6:35 pm sixty-nine people, mostly teenagers were murdered at Utøya. The two youngest victims were fourteen years old.
Over the last few year the media focus has solely been on that pathetic excuse of a human being, Anders Behring Breivik, it even encouraged a few copy cats. Who fortunately were caught before they could do harm, with the exception of ,Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the perpetrator of two consecutive mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Today I will try to rebalance this by focusing more on the victims of that fatal day on July 22,2011.
Hanna Endresen, 61, Oslo
Receptionist in the security department of the Government Administration Services. She was described as a “good colleague”.
Tove Ashill Knutsen, 56, Oslo
Secretary with the electricians and information technology workers’ union. On her way to subway station when bomb exploded.
Kai Hauge, 32, Oslo
Owned a bar and restaurant in Oslo. A colleague described his death as “a great loss”.
Jon Vegard Lervag, 32, Oslo
A lawyer who worked in the justice department. He was described as “socially engaged”.
Ida Marie Hill, 34, Oslo
Originally from Grue, Hedmark county, Ida worked as an adviser to the ministry of justice. She was described as “a dear and highly-valued employee”.
Hanne Ekroll Loevlie, 30, Oslo
A senior government worker originally from Tyristrand, Buskerud county. Colleagues said she “represented the best in us”.
Anne Lise Holter, 51, Valer i Oestfold, Oestfold county
Senior consultant to Norway’s PM Jens Stoltenberg’s office. Officials sent their “warmest thoughts and sympathy” to her family and friends.
Kjersti Berg Sand, 26, Nord-Ordal
Worked on international issues in Justice Department. Colleagues said they had lost a “dear and highly valued employee”.
line Utoeya island shooting Utoeya island victims – photos of some of those who died are not available Mona Abdinur, 18, Oslo
The committed young politician was described as “a well-loved friend, who was socially engaged and interested in multicultural issues”.
Maria Maageroe Johannesen, 17, Noetteroey, Vestfold county
Student at Greve Forest High School who was interested in music, dance and drama. Described as a wonderful, conscientious girl who was a “ray of sunshine”.
Ismail Haji Ahmed 19 Hamar, Hedmark county
Better known as Isma Brown after appearing on a talent show. The dance instructor was described as a “very bubbly, happy, caring and happy boy. He was very positive with a very big heart.”
Ronja Soettar Johansen, 17, Vefsn, Nordland county
An active blogger, Ronja had a keen interest in music. Friends said she was “a person with courage, commitment and kindness”.
Thomas Margido Antonsen, 16, Oslo
A student council representative. Described by friends as “a boy who spread joy”.
Sondre Kjoeren, 17, Orkdal, Soer-Troendelag county
Described as a gentle but committed person. He was said to have been heavily involved in efforts to get a new sports hall in his village.
Porntip Ardam, 21, Oslo
Known as Pamela. She was described as talented, super-intelligent, politically active and down to earth.
Margrethe Boeyum Kloeven, 16, Baerum, Akershus county
The student council leader was described as an “active and versatile girl”.
Modupe Ellen Awoyemi, 15, Drammen, Buskerud county
Daughter of the city council politician Lola Awoyemi. Described as a kind and open girl, who was active in AUF discussions.
Syvert Knudsen, 17, Lyngdal, Vest-Agder county
The student politician is believed to have been one of the first shot on the island. His family described him as a “bubbly” boy with a keen interest in music.
Lene Maria Bergum, 19, Namsos, Nord-Troendelag
Her head teacher described her as an excellent, beautiful youth, who was sociable, interested in international issues. She had planned to start a summer job as a journalist.
Anders Kristiansen, 18, Bardu, Troms county
An active young politician and leader of the AUF in his area. He was said to be “full of initiative” with “a great desire to work in politics”.
Kevin Daae Berland, 15, Akoey, Hordaland county
Active in Askoey AUF and was involved in local politics as well as being a member of the youth council.
Elisabeth Troennes Lie, 16, Halden, Oestfold county
A board member of the Halden AUF. Described as “the sweetest person in the world”.
Trond Berntsen, 51, Oevre Eiker, Buskerud county
Crown Princess of Norway’s step-brother. The royal court said the off-duty police officer was killed while working as a security guard on the island.
Gunnar Linaker, 23, Bardu, Troms county
Regional secretary of Labour party’s youth wing. Father described him as a “calm, big teddy bear with lots of humour and lots of love”.
Sverre Flate Bjoerkavag, 28, Sula, Soer-Troendelag county
Union official concerned about justice, equality and community thinking. Described as a well-liked young man who fought for pupils and students’ rights. Was training to be a nurse.
Tamta Lipartelliani, 23, Georgia
Secretary of the international committee of the Young Socialists of Georgia.
Torjus Jakobsen Blattmann, 17, Kristiansand,Vest-Agder county
Son of former political adviser. His father said he was a boy “full of humour” who loved playing the guitar.
Eva Kathinka Lutken, 17, Sarpsborg, Oestfold county
She was described as an active politician who was well liked.
Monica Boesei, 45, Hole, Buskerud county
PM Jens Stoltenberg said: “To many of us, she was the embodiment of Utoeya. And now she is dead. Shot and killed whilst taking care of and giving joy to young people.”
Even Flugstad Malmedal, 18, Gjoevik, Oppland county
The student with an interest in politics was described as “a gentle boy who stood up for his friends”.
Carina Borgund, 18, Oslo
Friends and family said she was “kind, caring, gentle and positive. She loved life and spread joy to everyone around her”.
Tarald Kuven Mjelde, 18, Osteroey
Said to be a big fan of Chelsea football team and described as “very warm, friendly and socially engaged”.
Johannes Buoe, 14, Mandal, Vest-Agder county
“An independent boy with a good sense of humour,” his parents told NRK. He was interested in dogs, hunting, snowmobiling and took an active part in the youth community.
Ruth Benedicte Vatndal Nilsen, 15, Toensberg, Vestfold county
Described by friends as “always happy, positive, and without prejudice”.
Asta Sofie Helland Dahl, 16, Sortland, Nordland county
Teachers described her as a wonderful girl who was “open and cheerful”.
Hakon Oedegaard, 17, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Music student at Heimdal high school and member of Byasen school marching band. Described as a role model for others in the band.
Sondre Furseth Dale, 17, Haugesund, Rogaland county
Had large network of friends through music scene and politics. Described as a dedicated person who put 100% into everything he was interested in.
Emil Okkenhaug, 15, Levanger, Nord-Troendelag county
A sports lover described as modest and liked by all who knew him.
Monica Iselin Didriksen, 18, Sund, Hordaland county
Active in Sund AUF, she was described by friends as a unique and bubbly girl.
Diderik Aamodt Olsen, 19, Nesodden, Akershus county
Vice president of Nesodden AUF. He was the youngest member of editorial staff working on the organisation’s magazine.
Gizem Dogan, 17, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Described as a clever student who contributed to the cohesion of her class. Elected as central member of local AUF a month before the tragedy.
Henrik Pedersen, 27, Porsanger, Finnmark county
Leader of Porsanger AUF. Described as a “breath of fresh air” in the local community. A Labour colleague said he was very engaged and engaging.
Andreas Edvardsen, 18, Sarpsborg, Oestfold county
Director of Sarpsborg AUF and active in in the Labour youth league regional committee in Oestfold. Described as “a very caring and confident person”.
Rolf Christopher Johansen Perreau, 25, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Known as Christopher. Long-term member of the AUF and was elected to the board in October. Described as a skilled orator and a charismatic young politician.
Tore Eikeland ,21, Osteroy, Hordaland county
PM Jens Stoltenberg described him as “one of our most talented young politicians”.
Karar Mustafa Qasim, 19, Vestby, Akershus county
Originally from Iraq, Karar was with friends at summer camp when he was killed. The local mayor described his death as “an enormous tragedy”.
Bendik Rosnaes Ellingsen, 18, Rygge, Oestfold county
Had a summer job at the justice ministry before attending camp. He was secretary of Moss Regional Labour Youth, who said they had lost a caring, open and inclusive boy.
Bano Abobakar Rashid, 18, Nesodden, Akershus county
Leader of Nesodden AUF. She was said to have dedicated her life to fighting for democracy and against racism.
Aleksander Aas Eriksen, 16, Meråker, Nord-Troendelag county
Described as socially-engaged as well as “impulsive and passionate”.
Henrik Rasmussen, 18, Hadsel, Nordland county
Treasurer of Hadsel AUF. Said to be a very committed person, both in politics and culture.
Andrine Bakkene Espeland, 16, Fredrikstad, Oestfold county
Described as a politically-engaged girl who was keen to take care of the weakest.
Synne Roeyneland, 18, Oslo
A student described by friends as a “funny girl, who always had something to offer: opinions about politics and love and fun and witty comments”.
Hanne Balch Fjalestad, 43, Lunner, Oppland county
Danish government confirmed the Danish national was killed while working on the island as a first aid assistant. She was with her 20-year-old daughter, who survived the shooting.
Ida Beathe Rogne, 17, Oestre Toten, Oppland county
A keen student described as happy and funny as well as determined.
Silje Merete Fjellbu, 17, Tinn, Telemark county
Student politician described as a “wonderful girl who had much to contribute”.
Simon Saebo, 18, Salangen, Troms county
The student politician was said to be a natural leader. Those who knew him described him as trusting and kind, and a person who showed great concern for others.
Hanne Kristine Fridtun, 19 Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane county
The nursing student was the local AUF county chairman. Described as energetic with great commitment.
Marianne Sandvik, 16, Hundvag, Stavanger
The student was described as a quiet girl who always stood up for those who needed her. Her father said she was concerned with injustice in the world.
Andreas Dalby Groennesby, 17, Stange, Hedmark county
His father had exchanged text messages with him before the shooting. His father told NRK that public support had helped at a painful, terrible time.
Fredrik Lund Schjetne, 18, Eidsvoll, Akershus county
Described by friends as “a great person” whom it was “an honour” to have known.
Snorre Haller, 30, Trondheim, Soer-Troendelag county
Painter and union man. He was a board member of the Joint Association’s Central Youth Committee. Described as a “kind, quiet and generous man”.
Lejla Selaci, 17, Fredrikstad, Oestfold county
Leader of the AUF in Fredrikstad. Described as a “very happy and social girl who committed herself to what she believed in”.
Rune Havdal, 43, Oevre Eiker, Buskerud county
Worked as a security guard on the island of Utoeya.
Birgitte Smetbak, 15, Noetteroey, Vestfold county
Politicians from her local area said hearing news of her death was “a difficult day”.
Guro Vartdal Havoll, 18, Oersta, Moere og Romsdal
An active and determined politician, the young student’s family said she was inspired by Ghandi and wanted to make the world a “better place”.
Isabel Victoria Green Sogn, 17, Oslo
An enthusiastic member of the AUF who saw her future involved in politics.
Ingrid Berg Heggelund, 18, As, Akershus county
A student who said she loved going to school.
Silje Stamneshagen, 18, Askoey, Hordaland county
Active in Askoey AUF and played in school band. Classmates described her as a happy girl who lit up the school day and every day.
Karin Elena Holst, 15, Rana, Nordland county
A member of the Rana AUF, she spoke to her mother during the shooting. She had urged her daughter to hang up and hide.
Victoria Stenberg, 17, Nes, Akershus county
The oldest of three siblings, she was said to be looking forward to the youth camp.
Eivind Hovden, 15, Tokke, Telemark county
Eivind was involved in his local youth centre and was attending his first summer camp. Described as an “amazing guy, always happy, caring and helpful”.
Tina Sukuvara, 18, Vadsoe, Finnmark county
Described as “very talented and engaged” and a person who participated actively in political debates.
Jamil Rafal Mohamad Jamil, 20, Eigersund, Rogaland county
Originally from Iraq, Jamil was described as happy, attentive and curious with a strong desire to contribute.
Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, 14, Drammen, Buskerud county
Known as Sissi to friends and family, the schoolgirl was described as a “beautiful, caring and vibrant girl”.
Steinar Jessen, 16 Alta, Finnmark county
A keen member of the AUF. The mayor of Alta described him as “a flower that would have grown big and strong”.
Havard Vederhus, 21, Oslo
Elected leader of Oslo Labour Youth in February. Friends said he was “ambitious and fearless”.
Espen Joergensen, 17, Bodoe, Nordland county
Had recently become head of Bodoe AUF. His best friend said he was someone who could “light up the darkest days”.
On December 2, 1975, 7 South Moluccan terrorists hijacked a train with about 50 passengers on board in open countryside near the village of Wijster, halfway between Hoogeveen and Beilen in the northern part of the Netherlands. The hijacking lasted for 12 days and 3 hostages, including the driver were killed.
The terrorists were seeking independence for South Molucca, a group of islands in the Western Pacific under Indonesian rule. Indonesia had been a Dutch colony until the late 1940’s.
At 10:07 the emergency cord was pulled on the local train Groningen-Zwolle.
Simultaneously 7 other south Moluccan terrorists had occupied the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam.
The train driver, Hans Braam, was immediately killed.
When on the third day the Dutch government had not give in to the hijackers’s demands, 22-year-old national serviceman Leo Bulter was murdered and his body together with Hans Braam’s body were thrown out of the train on the rails. That night 14 hostages managed to escape from the train.
The following day a young economist Bert Bierling was brought to the doors and shot in full view of the police and the military as well as the press.
On December 11, the terrorists released two elderly hostages after talks aboard the train with four mediators. This left at least 27 prisoners on the train.
On 14 December the hijackers surrendered. Among reasons for surrender were reports about retaliations on the Moluccan islands and the sub-zero temperatures in and around the train.
The occupation and hostage situation at the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam ended on December 19. one hostage was killed.
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9/11 they used to be just 2 numbers until that fateful day in 2001. Ever since then it has become ingrained in the human psyche as one of the days the world changed.
Even now ,19 years later it is hard to fathom the events of that day. Even when it happened it was hard to believe even though we could see it unfold in front of our eyes on TV screens or otherwise.
It was the day where we experienced evil and ruthlessness on so many levels. I say ruthlessness for it wasn’t only displayed by the terrorist. I worked at a telecom company at the time and about half an hour after the attacks, I received a call from a Banker in Switzerland complaining about telephony and data loss between Zürich and New York. He complained even though he was well aware what had happened, to him all that mattered was money transfers.
The one thing that bothers me is the fact that the reported number of casualties is 2996. This includes the 19 who committed the attacks, as if they were victims. Those 19 evil monsters, should not be included in that number. It diminishes the respect and the memories of the real victims.
These are the numbers we should focus on
Total number killed in attacks in New York: 2,753
Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343
Number of NYPD officers: 23
Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
Total Number of people killed on United Airlines Flight 93: 40
Total Number killed at the Pentagon attack:184.
2977, each a different story of innocent lives destroyed.
I don’t know all the stories but I know a bit of the story of ‘Victim 0001’
Mychal Judge
Mychal Judge was born Robert Emmett Judge on May 11, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrants from County Leitrim, Ireland. His father died when he was still a child.To earn income following his father’s death, Judge shined shoes at New York Penn Station.
After spending his freshman year at the St. Francis Preparatory School in Brooklyn, where he studied under the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, in 1948, at the age of 15, Judge began the formation process to enter the Order of Friars Minor.In 1961, he was ordained a priest.
In 1992, Judge was appointed a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. As chaplain, he offered encouragement and prayers at fires, rescues, and hospitals, and counseled firemen and their families, often working 16-hour days.
When the planes hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Father Mychal Judge ran into the North Tower alongside the firemen he served..
At the time, French documentary filmmakers were inside the North tower. Their camera captured some of the last moments of Mychal Judge’s life. In the film, according to his friend, Father Michael Duffy, you can see the priest standing by the plate glass window, watching the bodies fall on the patio outside.
“And if you look closely at that film, you’ll see his lips moving,” Duffy stated. “Now, for those of us who know him, he wasn’t one that talked to himself. He was praying. And absolving people as they fell to their death.”
Moments later, the South Tower collapsed. The force of the explosion shattered the windows and flung the priest across the lobby. In the darkness, some firemen stumbled over his body.
Mychal Judge was designated as “Victim 0001” and thereby recognized as the first official victim of the attacks.
In the early morning hours of September 5 1972, six members of the Arab terrorist group known as Black September dressed in the Olympic sweat suits of Arab nations and jumped the fence surrounding the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, carrying bags filled with guns. Although guards spotted them, they paid little attention because athletes often jumped the fence during the competition to return to their living quarters.
After changing into disguises, the terrorists, toting machine guns, burst into the apartments of 21 Israeli athletes and officials. Yossef Gutfreund, a wrestling referee who valiantly tried to keep the terrorists out, saved Tuvia Sokolovsky, who was able to climb out a window and escape. In another apartment, Moshe Weinberg was shot 12 times but still managed to wound one of the terrorists and save the life of one of his teammates.
Created in 1970 by a few survivors of the “ten terrible September days” of fighting against Jordan for a Palestinian homeland, Black September succeeded in taking nine hostages before demanding the release of 234 prisoners-most of whom were Arab terrorists. The demands were categorically refused, but it was eventually agreed that the terrorists and the hostages would be taken to the Furstenfeldbruck airport by helicopter and given a plane.
The German government planned an ambush at the airport, stationing sharpshooters around the runway and officers in the airplane. However, the plan quickly disintegrated when the officers in the plane, worried about their lack of preparation, deserted. There weren’t nearly enough sharpshooters to effectively take down all of the terrorists either, partly because the Germans didn’t realize that two other terrorists had joined the Black September attack.
Still, the ambush was carried out. Three terrorists were taken out in the first wave of shots, but the others were able to hide out of range. One threw a grenade into a helicopter where five hostages were still tied up, instantly killing them all. Another terrorist fired his machine gun into another helicopter, killing the remaining hostages.
Twenty hours after Black September had begun their attack, a German police official, 5 Palestinian terrorists, and 11 Israeli athletes lay dead.
Three of the terrorists who survived were imprisoned but were set free a month later when Arabs hijacked a Lufthansa 727 and demanded their release.
A few days after the tragic event at the Olympics, Israel retaliated with air strikes against Syria and Lebanon, killing 66 people and wounding dozens. In addition, Israel sent out assassination squads to hunt down members of Black September while Israeli troops broke through the Lebanese border, igniting the heaviest fighting since the Six-Day War of 1967.
Initially some newspapers had reported 9 athletes killed.
Of those believed to have planned the massacre, only Abu Daoud, the man who claims that the attack was his idea, is known to have died of natural causes. Historical documents released to Der Spiegel by the German secret service show that Dortmund police had been aware of collaboration between Abu Daoud and neo-Nazi Willi Pohl (de) (aka E. W. Pless and, since 1979, officially named Willi Voss) seven weeks before the attack.
Young Girl, the smile on your face when you got the ticket said it all.
Your first ever concert, you first late night out, OMG.
The anticipation of seeing your idol is driving you mad, the time goes so slow.
What outfit you are going to wear is your biggest concern.
Young Girl, the big day has come, you are so excited, today is the day!
You try to eat your breakfast but you can’t. So happy. LOL
On the playground at school you coordinate with your BFF on what accessories to wear.
In the car with your dad on the way to the arena. Dad has a proud face.
Young Girl, you nearly faint as you show your ticket to enter the venue.
The support act is good, but when will she appear. The one you look up to so much.
Then suddenly you recognize the voice and the song, you sing along.
Your heart is pounding in your throat, you never ever felt like this before. Bliss.
Young Girl , the concert is over you walk out, an explosion.
Young Girl. RIP.
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later.
They killed 34 civilians including a full-term unborn child, and injured almost 300. The bombings were the deadliest attack of the conflict known as the Troubles, and the deadliest attack in the Republic’s history.Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from five months to 80 year.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group from Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for the bombings in 1993. It had launched a number of attacks in the Republic since 1969. There are allegations taken seriously by inquiries that elements of the British state security forces helped the UVF carry out the bombings, including members of the Glenanne gang. Some of these allegations have come from former members of the security forces. The Irish parliament’s Joint Committee on Justice called the attacks an act of international terrorism involving British state forces.The month before the bombings, the British government had lifted the UVF’s status as a proscribed organisation.
Two of the bombs went off on Talbot and Parnell Streets before a third blast exploded on South Leinster Street near Trinity College, 27 people died.
Shortly afterwards another bomb exploded outside a pub in Monaghan, killing seven people. Hundreds more were injured.
In the aftermath of the coordinated attacks, then Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave condemned the atrocities:
I do not know which evil men did this but everyone who has practised violence or preached violence or condoned violence must bear his share of responsiblility. It will bring home to us what the people of Northern Ireland have been suffering for five long years.
Derek Byrne was just 14 and only a week into his first job working as a petrol pump attendant. Just as he was filling a car with petrol, a huge explosion struck on Parnell Street.
His injuries were so horrific that emergency services thought he had died. He recalls waking up in a hospital mortuary.
“I just remember pulling back the sheets and then the lady in the morgue, she ran out,” he says.
“I don’t know whether it was hospital porters or doctors who came in. I was put on a trolley and brought straight to theatre. I was 18 hours in theatre and then 12 weeks in a coma after that.”
After the blasts, bystanders rushed to help the wounded, and emergency response personnel were on the scene within minutes. Hospitals across Dublin were put on standby to receive casualties. However, rescue operations in Dublin were hampered by heavy traffic due to the bus strike. Rescuers, feeling that help was not coming fast enough, lifted the dead and wounded, wrapped them in coats and bundled them into cars to get them to the nearest hospital.[Garda Síochána squad cars escorted surgeons through the crowded streets to attend the wounded. Many people, on finding out what had happened, went straight away to offer blood.
Paddy Doyle of Finglas, who lost his daughter, son-in-law, and two infant granddaughters in the Parnell Street explosion, described the scene inside Dublin’s city morgue as having been like a “slaughterhouse”, with workers “putting arms and legs together to make up a body”.
At 18:00, after all of the dead and injured had been removed, Garda officers cordoned off the three bomb sites in Dublin. Fifteen minutes earlier, at 17:45, the orders were given to call out ‘national cordons’, to stop the bombers fleeing the stat] Garda officers were sent to Connolly Station, Busáras, Dublin Airport, the B&I car ferry port, and the mail boat at Dún Laoghaire.At 18:28, the Dublin-Belfast train was stopped at Dundalk and searched by a team of 18 Gardaí led by an inspector.During the evening of 17 May, Gardaí from the Ballistics, Photography, Mappings, and Fingerprints section visited the three bomb sites in Dublin and examined the debris.
Some accounts give a total of 34 or 35 dead from the four bombings: 34 by including the unborn child of victim Colette Doherty, who was nine months pregnant; and 35 by including the later still-born child of Edward and Martha O’Neill. Edward was killed outright in Parnell Street.Martha O’Neill was not caught up in the attack, although two of their children were seriously injured in the bombing; one of them, a four-year-old boy, suffered severe facial injuries. The 22-month-old daughter of Colette Doherty survived the Talbot Street blast; she was found wandering about near the bomb site, relatively unharmed.Six weeks after the bombings, the elderly mother of Thomas Campbell, who was killed in the Monaghan bombing, allegedly died of the shock she received at the death of her son.
Due to the bombings, the Irish Army withdrew its troops from UN peacekeeping missions for four year.
On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.)
A cargo truck laden with more than two tons of explosives was detonated in front of Oklahoma City’s nine-story federal building on April 19, 1995 — an act of terrorism that at the time was the worst such attack ever committed on U.S. soil. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, injured hundreds more and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to structures and vehicles in the downtown area.
Within days, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were arrested and accused of conspiring to destroy the federal building in retribution for the government’s handling of the siege of the Branch Davidian religious group at their compound in Waco, Texas, two years earlier. McVeigh and Nichols were tried and convicted on federal charges, and Nichols was convicted of murder following a separate trial in Oklahoma. McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed and Nichols received multiple life prison sentences.
Terry Lynn Nichols (born April 1, 1955) is an American convicted of being an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevator manager, real estate salesman and ranch hand.He met his future conspirator, Timothy McVeigh, during a brief stint in the U.S. Army, which ended in 1989 when he requested a hardship discharge after less than one year of service.In 1994 and 1995, he conspired with McVeigh in the planning and preparation of the Oklahoma City bombing – the truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
After a federal trial in 1997, Nichols was convicted of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter for killing federal law enforcement personnel. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because the jury deadlocked on the death penalty. He was also tried in Oklahoma on state charges of murder in connection with the bombing. He was convicted in 2004 of 161 counts of first degree murder, including one count of fetal homicide;first-degree arson; and conspiracy.As in the federal trial, the state jury deadlocked on imposing the death penalty. He was sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole,setting a Guinness World Record and is incarcerated at ADX Florence, a super maximum security prison near Florence, Colorado.
He shares a cell block that is commonly referred to as “Bombers Row” with Ramzi Yousef and Ted Kaczynski.
Timothy James McVeigh was born in Lockport, New York, the only son and the second of three children of Mildred “Mickey” Noreen (née Hill) and William McVeigh.His Irish American parents divorced when he was ten years old, and he was raised by his father in Pendleton, New York.
McVeigh claimed to have been a target of bullying at school, and he took refuge in a fantasy world where he imagined retaliating against the bullies. At the end of his life, he stated his belief that the United States government is the ultimate bully
He sought revenge against the federal government for its handling of the 1993 Waco siege, which ended in the deaths of 76 people exactly two years before the bombing,
as well as for the 1992 Ruby Ridge incident. McVeigh hoped to inspire a revolt against the federal government.
He was convicted of eleven federal offences and sentenced to death. His execution was carried out in a considerably shorter amount of time than average after his trial, as most convicts on death row in the United States spend an average of fifteen years awaiting execution. Four years after his conviction, McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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On February 26, 1993, terrorists parked a rental van in a garage underneath the World Trade Center’s twin towers and lit the fuses on a massive homemade bomb stuffed inside. Six people died and more than 1,000 were injured in the subsequent explosion, which carved out a crater several stories deep and propelled smoke into the upper reaches of the quarter-mile-high skyscrapers.
Completed in 1973, the World Trade Center’s twin towers loomed over lower Manhattan at 110 stories each. Although these iconic buildings, which were the tallest in the world before being overtaken by Chicago’s Sears Tower, struggled at first to attract tenants, some 50,000 office workers eventually filled them to near capacity. Tens of thousands of additional visitors came daily to check out the view from an observation deck or a 107th-floor restaurant.
Safety concerns became apparent as early as 1975, when a disgruntled custodian set a fire in the north tower that caused millions of dollars in damages and prompted calls for the installation of a sprinkler system. A decade or so later, the government agency that owned the World Trade Center began examining possible terrorism threats. But it ended up ignoring many of its security team’s recommendations, including that public parking be eliminated or that cars at least be randomly inspected.
In September 1992 explosives expert Ramzi Ahmed Yousef arrived in New York City on a flight from Pakistan and began planning an attack on the World Trade Center, with the alleged goal of toppling the north tower into the south tower.
He received help from followers of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind, Egyptian-born Muslim cleric who spoke in sermons of destroying the “edifices of capitalism.”
The plotters rented a storage locker in New Jersey, where they stockpiled urea, nitric acid, sulfuric acid and other ingredients for making bombs. They simultaneously concocted a nitroglycerin trigger at a nearby apartment and scouted out the World Trade Center’s underground floors.
On February 26, 1993, the plotters loaded their homemade bomb, which weighed about 1,200 pounds, into a yellow Ford Econoline van they had rented from a Ryder dealership in New Jersey.
Two of them then drove it across the Hudson River into Manhattan, made their way south to the World Trade Center, entered the basement parking garage between the north tower and a hotel, parked in an illegal spot on a ramp, lit four 20-foot fuses, got into a car that had trailed them and sped off.
At 12:17 p.m. the bomb exploded, knocking out the World Trade Center’s sprinklers, generators, elevators, public address system, emergency command center and more than half of the high-voltage lines that fed electricity to the complex. The FBI later called it the “largest by weight and by damage of any improvised explosive device that we’ve seen since the inception of forensic explosive identification.” Six people died, including a pregnant woman. More than 1,000 others were injured, mostly from smoke that snaked its way up the stairwells and elevator shafts. Yet both towers remained standing.
As rescue workers dug for victims, survivors began making their way out by any means possible. A woman in a wheelchair was carried down 66 flights of stairs by two friends. A class of singing kindergartners descended from the 107th floor. A group of engineers stuck in an elevator pried open the doors and then used car keys to cut a hole in the sheetrock walls leading out to a 58th-floor women’s bathroom. Nearly 30 people with medical conditions were taken to the roof and whisked away by police helicopter. By late that night, the buildings had been completely cleared. They would not reopen for nearly a month.
Investigators sifting through the rubble soon came across the vehicle identification number for the rental van, which had been reported stolen the day before the attack. FBI agents then arrested Mohammad Salameh, who had rented the van under his own name, when he returned to the Ryder dealership to ask for his $400 deposit back.
Subsequent arrests were made of Ahmad Ajaj, Nidal Ayyad and Mahmoud Abouhalima. In March 1994 a federal jury convicted the four of them for their role in the bombing, and they were each sentenced to life behind bars.
Meanwhile, authorities uncovered a related plot in which followers of Sheikh Abdel Rahman planned to blow up the George Washington Bridge, the United Nations headquarters and other New York City landmarks. In that case, the sheikh and nine co-defendants were found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other terrorism-related charges. A third case led to life sentences for Yousef, who was captured in Pakistan in 1995, and the driver of the rental van, who was captured in Jordan that same year. Only one suspect, who fled to Iraq after being questioned and released by the FBI, remains at large.
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center bombing, the buildings’ owner repaired the damage, upgraded elevators and electrical systems, put battery-operated emergency lights and luminescent paint in the stairwells, and set up emergency command centers. By 2000 the complex had reached its highest occupancy rate of all time. But terrorism struck again on September 11, 2001, when militants associated with the Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda flew hijacked planes into the towers, killing nearly 3,000 people. More than 11 years later, reconstruction at the site, which includes a 9/11 memorial and the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, is nearing completion.
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that Dortmund police had been aware of collaboration between Abu Daoud and neo-Nazi Willi Pohl
History of Sorts 
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