A moving ceremony has taken place in New York to mark the opening of a musuem at “ground zero” that is dedicated to September 11.
Built on the site of the twin towers which fell that day, the museum includes many artifacts from some of the nearly 3,000 people who died when hijacked planes were used to attack the city along with Washington, Shanksville and Pennsylvania.
The US President Barack Obama said the memorial “reaffirms the true spirit of 9/11 – love, compassion, sacrifice and enshrines it forever in the hear of the nation.”
“Here we tell their story, so that generations yet unborn will never forget,” he added.
Our correspondent Stefan Grobe said: “Each step down the long staircase onto the center of New York City’s heartbreak will be painful for many. It’s going to be a very powerful and necessary experience. But troubling questions about the museum’s financing remain. Officials in New York are asking Congress to subsidise the 9/11 museum as it does for museums memorialising the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor. This is a debate that is far from over.“
When it opens it will cost the public 24 dollars to enter but for a week free access will be reserved for relatives of the victims.
