Two more 9/11 victims who died in World Trade Center identified through DNA testing

Two more victims of the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center have been identified, the city announced just days before the 22nd anniversary of the most harrowing day in New York City history.

The victims, a man and a woman, become the 1,648^th and 1,649^th individuals identified by the city's medical examiner using advanced DNA testing of their remains. Their names are being withheld at the request of their families, the city said Friday.

“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,” said NYC Mayor Eric Adams. “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.”

More than 2,700 people were killed in the attack in lower Manhattan. The city’s medical examiner has now been able to link remains to 1,649 World Trade Center victims, a painstaking process that relies on leading-edge DNA sequencing techniques to test body fragments recovered in the rubble.

Advancements in the sequencing technology, including increased test sensitivity and faster turnaround times, have allowed officials to identify remains that had tested negative for identifiable DNA for decades, officials said. Similar efforts are used by the U.S. military to identify missing service members and are currently underway to test body fragments from more than 100 people killed during the wildfires in Maui last month.

Despite forensic advancements, the effort to identify the remains of 9/11 victims has slowed in recent years. The two positive identifications are the first since September 2021, officials said. Before that, the last identification was made in 2019.

There are more than 1,000 human remains from the terror attacks that have yet to be identified. They are currently being stored at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site.

Dr. Jason Graham, the city’s chief medical examiner, said officials were committed to fulfilling their “solemn pledge” to return the remains of all of the attack’s victims.

“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,” Graham said.