In pictures: The 9/11 Memorial

The World Trade Center Memorial

Spending most of the day to experience the most heartbreaking event inthe history of the city; surrounded by tourists busy collectingselfies in every corner of the memorial, journalists observing andmaking notes on every little aspect of the day. Then there were thepeople who came to pay respects to and remember the loved ones lost14 years ago.

The atmosphere was intense: tears welling up, lovedones and firemen walking together, looking for their friends’ names onthe memorial. There was an impromptu march and tribute by the firedepartment. There were speeches and the band played songs to honour thefallen.

This is the place where it all started, the loss of innocent lives atan epic scale. Starting the domino effect that would cause the loss oflife halfway across the world, at an even greater scale. With noclear end in sight, it continues to escalate. The innocent willcontinue to suffer, caught between the extremists and the soldiers.

These pictures depict the wound created over a decade ago, a woundthat has changed the world forever. They not only show the pain andloss for the people of New York, they echo the pain and lossthroughout the world. We are all caught in the ripples of the act thatshook New York to its core.

Firemen console each other as a speech remembering their brethren is delivered

Memorial lights, one for each tower

A message in chalk left on the road

Memorial lights seen from the centre of the World Trade Center Complex

A lot of flowers were left on and around the memorial

It is difficult to describe the scale of the memorial; it takes time to realise the sheer magnitude and power of the statement it makes about a monumental tragedy

Nathaniel Webb was her grandfather, her mother wanted a picture of her with his name

Colleagues and loved ones stand in silence, paying their respects

There were a lot of mothers, wives, sons, fathers and husbands who were reliving the pain of their loss

Like firemen, many police officers too lost their lives that day

Some people quietly walked around the memorial for hours

Chris Howard and Jonathan Howard, son and grandson of George Howard, killed on 9/11

Praying for their fallen friends

Firemen share stories and console one another

Surrounded by supportive family and friends

Team RWB who will climb the WTC on September 17 to honour Captain Billy Burke, a firefighter who lost his life on September 11, 2001

Remembering friends they will never see again

Crowds gather around the memorial museum to see the remains of the original towers

He stood there, looking at a name, frozen, until his son came and whispered something in his ear

I come across the man again, he continues to stand in silence

Photographs by Kohi Marri

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