Relatives gather for twin towers memorial service
Thousands of relatives of those killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre were tonight gathering at the site to remember their loved ones.
Among the 5,000 family members expected to come together for an hour-long memorial service in New York were 50 relatives of British people killed as the twin towers were attacked on September 11.
They were being joined by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has been given responsibility for coordinating the efforts to help the relatives, and grief counsellors in New York to help visiting British relatives.
Composer Lord Lloyd-Webber was taking part in the inter-faith service, accompanying Irish singer Shona Daly on the piano as one of the performances during the hour-long ceremony.
The memorial ceremony is the first time that work has been halted completely at ground zero, as the remains of the World Trade Centre are now called.
Debris was cleared specially to produce an area big enough to seat all those invited.
Ms Jowell, who has been in New York several times since September 11, said 50 British relatives, representing 18 families, were coming together for the service.
About 80 Britons were now believed to have been killed in the terror attacks, but so far no bodies of missing Britons have been recovered.
Ms Jowell said before the service: ‘‘The point that it is always important to make from the Government point of view is that we have in place the whole range of help to make the grief easier to bear.
‘‘Every family is in touch with a family liaison officer with whom we have been working.
‘‘After today, the next major event for families will be the memorial service on November 29.’’
That service, being held in London, will be a formal commemoration of the Britons who died in the atrocity.
At the end of tonight’s service, each family is to be given an American flag and an urn containing earth from the site, a recognition that some bodies will never be recovered.
‘‘By and large people are now accepting that their missing relatives will not return, but the other hard fact that they need to come to terms with is that an urn containing ashes from the site may be all that we have to remember their loved ones by,’’ Ms Jowell said.
‘‘That makes closure very difficult.’’
The service was also a reminder of why Britain, the United States and other countries were involved in a war on terrorism, including the air strikes in Afghanistan.
‘‘Let’s not forget that this campaign also is motivated by the desire of the international community, the international coalition, to bring bin Laden to justice,’’ said Ms Jowell.
‘‘It is not raw, naked revenge. It is justice after what happened on September 11.
‘‘And it is a belief that while bin Laden is free and the al Qaida network remains, the world remains a dangerous place.’’
While every civilian death in Afghanistan was ‘‘a tragedy’’, tonight’s service was a further reminder that those deaths could be traced to the September 11 terror strikes.
‘‘They are consequences of a war that started as a result of the events of September 11,’’ Ms Jowell said.
‘‘The second point is that there is evidence that the Taliban are moving their armaments, which will become targets, close to either humanitarian depots or other civilian settlements.’’
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the inter-faith service, which he was also attending, ‘‘will be a religious service’’.
He added: ‘‘The purpose of it is to allow many of the family members to be able to have a prayer service right at the site where their loved ones lost their lives.’’
