9/11 World Trade Center costumes stun Britain

Stephanie Haven | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Twin Towers costumes spark outrage l SocialEyes What happens when you have a 9/11 themed costume for Halloween? You may win for best costume, but you certainly lose on social media.

%22The Sun%22 tabloid devoted front page to the Halloween outfits

Anne Collinge and Amber Langford are college students

Both women later apologized

LONDON — Amid the unofficial tradition of politically incorrect Halloween costumes, a rubble-ridden World Trade Center outfit has topped the list in England.

The Sun newspaper even devoted its Wednesday front page to the outfits with the headline "Towering Stupidity."

In the image, two 19-year-old women — winners of a nightclub costume contest on Oct. 31 — are shown wearing tube-like costumes labeled "North Tower" and "South Tower."

The costumes, which include hats with American flags, depict planes crashing into the Twin Towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

Annie Collinge, whose father was a United Express pilot in 2001, and Amber Langford won £150, or about $240, for their victory in the competition.

"I didn't know anything about it, but I'm not happy at all," Collinge's father told The Sun after the pictures emerged Wednesday.

The English nightclub that awarded the prize, Rosies, said in a statement that it is "extremely concerned" about how people "dressed in a distasteful and offensive manner" were selected.

The women, both students at the University of Chester, later apologized, saying the costume "was not intended as a joke," but rather meant to "depict a serious, modern-day horror."