Washington/New York  - The seventh commemoration of the 2001 terrorist attacks on Washington adn New York began Thursday morning with a nationwide solemn moment of silence at 8:46 am, the time that one of four hijacked passenger planes smashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York.

Family members of the more than 2,500 who died in New York gathered outside the site of Ground Zero, and prepared to descend into what is now a construction site. (dpa)