NYC adopts new tech to identify 9/11 victims
New York City has introduced cutting-edge technology to help identify unknown victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The 9/11 attacks killed 2,753 people at the World Trade Center. Some 1,099 victims, or about 40 percent, are still unidentified a quarter-century later.
A special team in New York City’s medical examiner’s office has continued efforts to identify the victims by using new technology to extract DNA from remains recovered from the site of the attacks.
In August, the technology was used to identify a victim for the first time through a method incorporating genealogical investigative techniques.
The medical examiner’s office said it will use “every available scientific tool to identify victims and provide answers to the families who have been waiting for them.”
Meanwhile, health consequences of toxic dust and smoke are coming to light 25 years on.
New York City on Tuesday announced the release of more than 170,000 pages of records documenting air quality and the city’s response to the attacks. The city said the portal carrying the information will be updated regularly.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, “More people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.” He also said past administrations have ignored people calling for answers and chose to “bury them in legal arguments and in red tape.”
Mamdani added, “As we mark 25 years, it is time for this painful chapter to end.”
