Two victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack have had their remains identified, marking the most recent success in the long-running campaign to reunite families with their loved ones.
What Happened?
Days before the 22nd anniversary of the hijacked plane assault on Lower Manhattan that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people, authorities verified the identification of the remains of a man and a woman. At the request of their families, city officials suppressed their names.
In a laborious process that depends on cutting-edge DNA sequencing tools to analyse body bits retrieved, New York City’s medical examiner has now been able to link remains to 1,649 World Trade Center victims.
Officials claimed that advances in sequencing technology, such as improved test sensitivity and quicker turnaround times, allowed them to locate remains that had tested negative for identifiable DNA for decades.
The U.S. military use similar techniques to locate missing service members, and tests are presently being conducted on body fragments from the more than 100 people who died in the Maui wildfires last month.
Honouring The Lost People
Source: CNBC’s
Along with the casualties on that particular day, the World Trade Center attack exposed hundreds of thousands of people in lower Manhattan to hazardous air and debris, and hundreds have since passed away from diseases linked to the events of September 11th. Although the precise number is unknown, according to firefighter union leaders 341 FDNY firefighters have passed away from ailments related to 9/11, according to CBS New York.
On Monday, lower Manhattan will host the yearly tribute honoring those lost on September 11, 2001. The reading of the victims’ names will begin the CBS News New York coverage of the 9/11 memorial at 8:25 a.m. ET.
As we get ready to commemorate September 11th, Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement, “Our thoughts turn to those we lost on that terrible morning and their families who continue to live every day with the pain of missing loved ones.” “We hope these new identifications can offer some solace to the families of these victims,” the statement reads.
