US remembers 9/11 terror attacks as coronavirus alters ceremony traditions

Biden and Pence, both masked, joined New York’s sombre 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks at the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre

Trump and his presidential rival are also due to attend a ceremony in Shanksville, where the hijacked Flight 93 crashed in a field

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden (left) greets US Vice-President Mike Pence at a ceremony to mark the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:43pm, 11 Sep 2020Updated: 2:59am, 12 Sep 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Vice-President Mike Pence and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, all masked, joined New York’s sombre 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks at the site of the destroyed World Trade Centre.

Biden and Pence, both masked, bumped elbows in greeting, one of the many ways the anniversary ceremony has been changed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 people in the United States.

About 200 people joined the New York ceremony, where the names were read out of the nearly 3,000 people killed when two hijacked jets slammed into the Twin Towers, with a third hitting the Pentagon and a fourth taken down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when its passengers rose up against the al-Qaeda hijackers.

President Donald Trump and Biden are also due to visit Shanksville separately later in the day.

Before boarding a plane from his Delaware home, Biden pledged not to make any news during the solemn day.

“I’m not going to talk about anything other than 9/11. We took all our advertising down. It’s a solemn day, and that’s how we’re going to keep it, OK?” Biden said.