New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced this week that the city is releasing thousands of previously withheld documents related to the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to Mamdani, the files show that authorities failed to give the public a full and honest picture of just how toxic the air around Ground Zero really was in the weeks and months following the collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
The disclosure comes just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed 2,977 people in the United States, most of them when the towers came down in Lower Manhattan. But the tragedy’s death toll didn’t stop there: in the years since, more than 9,400 people—including first responders, cleanup crews, and residents—have died from illnesses tied to exposure to dust and debris in the area now known as Ground Zero.
Advocates for survivors and first responders have long argued that early government assurances calling the air “safe to breathe” were misleading, allowing thousands to work and live in the contaminated zone without adequate protection. The newly released records are expected to shed more light on what officials knew—and when—about the health risks, reigniting a painful debate over accountability nearly a quarter-century after the attacks.
To read the full story and see more details from the released archives, check out the original article at El Tiempo.
Source: ¿Qué ocultaron las autoridades tras el 11-S? Nueva York divulga archivos sobre la contaminación que afectó a miles de personas: 'Les mintieron' (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
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