The annual light installation at lower Manhattan that features twin beams of light, in honour of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack has been cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said. The installation set up at the National September 11 memorial and museum, was first lit six months after 9/11, and then on the night of September 11, from dusk to dawn, annually.

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Announcing the decision, Michael Frazier, a spokesman of the Museum said, “This incredibly difficult decision was reached in consultation with our partners after concluding the health risks during the pandemic were far too great.” ‘Tribute in Light’ has become an iconic symbol that honors those killed and celebrates the unbreakable spirit of New York.

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However the Museum is planning another display that will have spires and facades of buildings in Manhattan being illuminated in blue, he said. Earlier, the organisers had also cancelled the ‘reading of names’ in which the families of victims read out their names, to ensure each victim is recognised and remembered. Recorded readings of the names made by 9/11 family members will instead be used for the 19th-anniversary commemoration ceremony.

2977 people were killed when planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania in a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001