Speaker Paul Young talking about – 9/11 Attack on the World Trade Centre

Paul Young, formerly the Chief Fire Officer for Devon and Somerset, made a presentation to Bishopsteignton Probus Club about the horrific al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Centre, an incident so profound that most people can remember where they were when they heard about it.

The attack started when terrorists hijacked four commercial planes.  The first two planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, the third was flown into the Pentagon and the fourth was crashed in a field after resistance and revolt by civilian passengers.

Most of the hijackers were Saudi Arabian nationals.  The attack was orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, who was later killed by American special forces in Pakistan in May 2011.       Another member of al-Qaeda, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, was the main architect of the 9/11 attacks and he was arrested in March 2003.

It was the deadliest terrorist attack in human history with over six thousand people injured and 2,996 people killed including citizens from more than ninety countries, of whom 67 were British citizens, 343 were firefighters and 71 were law enforcement officers.

Photo shows the speaker Paul Young (right) being thanked by Probus Club vice chairman Ian Gray.