Crowds at Ground Zero, for 10 years a sombre memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks, broke out in cheers and chants early Monday as thousands of New Yorkers rushed to the site to celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden, DPA reported.
"This is a celebration because it's a war we just won," one retired firefighter told CNN. "Today is great because all my brothers we lost here will know they didn't die in vain."
"I never thought this day would come," said retired police officer Bob Gibson as the crowd around him chanted "USA, USA."
"We're overjoyed but we still feel sympathy for the families who lost their loved ones."
Family members of 9/11 victims expressed bittersweet feelings after learning of the news. "It makes it all real again," Jane Pollicino, whose husband, Steve, was a financier working in the World Trade Center, told the Wall Street Journal. "When justice is done, you get a sense of relief. But it brings it all back to the surface."