9/11 remembrance: A look back at how The Independent covered the chilling aftermath

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The paper’s headlines reflected that panic: “Terror in America”, “All-American Nightmare”, “Phone calls from planes described final, fateful moments”, “Priests give last rites on the street as survivors queue to give blood”, “Bush says bombings were ‘act of war’”, “‘The Pentagon’s been hit. But then the mobile networks simply broke down, and lines formed at antiquated old payphones.” In an age before smartphones provided up-to-the-minute news updates, Mr Cornwell’s words perfectly captured the panic that set in: “No one knew which rumours were true – a car bomb at the State Department; an explosion on the Mall, the great ceremonial expanse through the heart of monumental Washington; another at the Capitol. In those terrible moments everything seemed possible.” Before dawn the next day, another Independent staffer, then-US editor David Usborne, took a dazed walk to Manhattan’s Ground Zero and retold what he saw: “If I ever need to imagine what a nuclear hell must look like, I have seen it today. Otherwise, nothing is recognisable.” The Independent’s front page on 12 September, 2001 As he walked through the ashes of the Twin Towers, a seemingly harmless but haunting detail caught his eye: “Anyone who has lived through this will have images in their head that they will never forget.