September 11 attacks remembered 25 years later

On September 11, 2001, coordinated terrorist attacks in the United States killed nearly 3,000 people after hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and in a field in Pennsylvania.

Papali'i Mele Maualaivao, who lived in Brooklyn at the time, remembered first seeing smoke from the World Trade Center and later experiencing ash and debris falling on her neighbourhood.

She recalled the pervasive smell of incineration and the widespread grief as people searched for missing relatives on television and through posters. Papali'i, now living in Samoa and working with United Nations Women, knew two people who died in the attacks and observed how the tragedy fostered a sense of community in New York City, previously a place where people generally kept to themselves. She also recognised the courage of first responders who risked their lives to help others.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, Papali'i continues to reflect on the events and hopes they will inspire kindness rather than hatred. Two New Zealand citizens, Alan Beaven and John Lozowsky, were among those who died, and their names are memorialised alongside the other victims in New York. Papali'i has not visited the memorial, feeling it should be reserved for the families of the victims.