A day of remembrance is being held in America to mark the fifth anniversary of the September the eleventh attacks on New York and Washington. At Ground Zero, relatives of the two thousand nine hundred and seventy three people who died will read out their names. This report from Mike Wooldridge:

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He said he was approaching the day with a heavy heart. 'You see the relatives of those who still grieve', he said, 'and I just wish there was some way we could make them whole.'

The reading out of a roll call of the dead has become an annual rite and it will be punctuated by further silences, marking the moment the second airliner plunged into the World Trade Centre and then the collapse of each tower.

After he leaves New York, Mr Bush will lay a wreath in the field in Pennsylvania where one of the planes crashed as passengers fought back against their hijackers and then he'll attend commemorations at the Pentagon, the site of the other attack.

Mike Wooldridge, BBC, New York

Listen to the words

A sombre mood
a feeling of sadness and gloom

descended on
became a feature of, affected

dominated by the consequences
what happened as a result of the attacks has been the most important thing in Mr Bush's presidency

wreathes
arrangements of flowers and leaves, usually in a circular shape, used as a sign of respect for people who have died

with a heavy heart
feeling very sad

grieve
feel and / or express great sadness, especially when someone dies

make them whole
give them a feeling of being complete, help them recover from their loss

a roll call
if someone does a roll call, they read aloud the names of all people on the list

punctuated by
here, accompanied by

hijackers
people who take control over an aircraft or other vehicle, especially using violence

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