Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has apologised to families of 9/11 victims, saying she carries "deep personal remorse" for failing to prevent the attacks. Rice, who served as national security adviser under President George W Bush, made the admission at a Pentagon ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, acknowledging that senior officials did not recognise the threat in time to stop it. The apology is notable coming from one of the most senior figures in the Bush administration at the time, offering a rare personal reckoning with the intelligence failures that preceded the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil.

Speaking at the Pentagon, where 184 people died, Rice said: "Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11… We did what we knew to do, but by definition, it was not enough." Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 11 September 2001 when 19 al-Qaeda hijackers seized four passenger jets, striking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and crashing a fourth, United Flight 93, in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. Rice also recalled the chaotic morning from inside the White House, describing how she and President Bush initially believed the first crash was an accident before a second impact 17 minutes later made clear America was under attack.