A SERIES OF memorials took place across America today to remember the 3,000 people that lost their lives on 11 September 2001.

President Barack Obama held a moment of silence on the front lawn of the White House in Washington DC and later attended a memorial outside the Pentagon, where he laid a wreath. Speaking at the memorial he said:

We pray for the memory of all those taken from us – nearly 3,000 innocent souls.

Our hearts still ache for the futures snatched away, the lives that might have been.

Families of the victims who died at the World Trade Center in New York read the names of each person at the memorial that has since been built where the Twin Towers once stood.

A separate memorial was held outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew tried to overpower the hijackers.

The finishing touches to the new World Trade Center tower and a museum dedicated to the attacks are currently underway.

One World Trade Center is now the tallest building in the Western hemisphere, its spire reaching to 1,776ft (541m).