The recent identification of two victims of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center is a significant step forward in the decades-long effort to reconcile families separated by the tragedy.
Authorities confirmed the identities of a man and a woman who were killed in the hijacked plane attack on Lower Manhattan 22 years ago, days before the attack’s 22nd anniversary. Municipal officials have kept the victims’ names secret at the request of their families.
The New York City medical examiner has successfully identified 1,649 victims of the World Trade Center attacks by utilizing advanced DNA sequencing technology to analyze body parts recovered from the rubble.
Authorities could positively identify human remains that were previously unidentifiable because of improved DNA test sensitivity.
The United States military uses a similar process to identify missing service members, and it is now being tested on body parts from the more than one hundred people who perished in the flames on Maui last month.
Despite significant advances in forensics, efforts to identify the bodies of 9/11 fatalities have stopped in recent years. Authorities say that these two identifications are the first since September 2021. A prior positive ID had not been made until 2019.
About a thousand people who died in the September 11 attacks 2001 have still not been found. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum has stored them at the WTC site.
Dr. Jason Graham, the NYC medical examiner, has said that the city will fulfill its “solemn commitment” to return the bodies of all attack victims.
Graham stated of the most extensive and complex forensic investigation in the country’s history, “We remain undaunted in our objective to apply the latest breakthroughs in science to achieve this promise.”
Hundreds of individuals were exposed to airborne toxins in the wake of the attack, resulting in further fatalities in the years after 9/11.
Firefighter union leaders told CBS New York that 341 FDNY firefighters had died from 9/11-related illnesses.
