New York, Aug 25 (DPA) A massive steel column from the original World Trade Centre destroyed by terrorist attacks Sep 11, 2001, was returned to its original site Monday to be a part of the memorial monument for victims.
The 58-tonne, 12-metre-high beam plunged deep into “Ground Zero”, the site of the World Trade Centre’s twins towers that collapsed, was the most visible remnant of the attacks.
It stood erect while debris from the towers smouldered around it for weeks after the attacks. Its return also marked the rebirth of the World Trade Centre.
The column was brought back from a depot at John F. Kennedy airport to be the centre piece of the planned National Sep 11 Memorial and Museum. News reports said other large artefacts from “Ground Zero” will also be returned to the site as construction for the new World Trade Centre is progressing.
Joseph Daniels, president of the Sep 11 Memorial Foundation, was quoted as saying that artefacts like the steel column have “tremendous emblematic meaning”.
“The last column represents all the effort by individuals that made this recovery effort unprecedented in American history,” Daniels said.
The US will mark the eight anniversary of the attacks next month in which more than 3,000 people died.
