Remains of 2 victims killed in 9/11 attack identified days ahead of 22nd anniversary

NEW YORK — Officials confirmed that the remains of a man and a woman who died in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center have been identified.

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A man and a woman were identified by authorities but at the request of their families, their names have not been released by New York City officials, according to The Associated Press.

The two people were identified days before the 22nd anniversary of the attack that nearly nearly 3,000 people in Lower Manhattan, the AP reported.

The man and woman are the 1,648th and 1,649th victims to be identified, a news release from the New York City mayor’s office said, according to CNN.

“As we prepare to mark the anniversary of September 11, 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,” Mayor Eric Adams said in the news release. “We hope these new identifications can bring some measure of comfort to the families of these victims, and the ongoing efforts by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner attest to the city’s unwavering commitment to reunite all the World Trade Center victims with their loved ones.”

The medical examiner in New York City has now been able to link remains to about 1,649 victims of the World Trade Center, the AP reported. It has been a rough process but the increased technology of DNA sequencing has been helpful in identifying body fragments that were recovered from the World Trade Center rubble.

“More than 20 years after the disaster, these two new identifications continue to fulfill a solemn pledge that OCME made to return the remains of World Trade Center victims to their loved ones,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said in the news release. “Faced with the largest and most complex forensic investigation in the history of our country, we stand undaunted in our mission to use the latest advances in science to serve this promise.”

About 40% of the victims or 1,100 people from 9/11 remain unidentified, according to CNN. 2,753 people were reported missing after the attacks and death certificates were issued for all of them.

Monday marks the 22nd anniversary of the attacks.