what happened to the twin towers

The Twin Towers, part of the World Trade Center complex in New York City, were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Two commercial airplanes hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists were deliberately flown into the towers. The North Tower was struck at 8:46 a.m. by American Airlines Flight 11 and collapsed at 10:28 a.m. after burning for about 1 hour and 42 minutes. The South Tower was struck at 9:03 a.m. by United Airlines Flight 175 and collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after burning for 56 minutes. The impacts caused massive fires that weakened the steel structures of both towers, leading to their total progressive collapse. The destruction caused major devastation in Lower Manhattan, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people at the site. The collapses were the deadliest building disasters in history, caused primarily by the fire and structural damage from the impacts, as confirmed by investigations such as those by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).