9/11 attacks: Two victims identified thanks to new DNA technique, 22 years after the tragedy

Thanks to a new technology, two victims of the 9/11 attacks have been identified twenty-two years after the tragedy.

The 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

On Monday 11 September 2023, Americans and New Yorkers in particular will be commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center. As a reminder, 2,753 people died as a result of this attack carried out by jihadists. The jihadists, under the command of Al-Qaida, rammed two planes straight into the towers.

At the time of writing, this is one of the deadliest attacks in the world. Although many of the victims were identified shortly after the tragedy, unfortunately not all were. As RTL Infos reports, only 1,649 victims have been identified. But despite the years that have passed, the process of identifying those killed in the attack has not stopped. And this is what has enabled two victims to be identified very recently.

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New technology enables new identifications

As announced by the US authorities, a man and a woman - whose families wished to remain anonymous - have been identified thanks to their DNA. The New York Office of Forensic Medicine said that this had been made possible by a new technology. It is 'a recently adopted next-generation sequencing technology that is more sensitive and faster than conventional DNA techniques', it said.

Eric Adams, mayor of the Big Apple, said in a statement:

We hope these new identifications will bring some comfort to the families of the victims, and the efforts of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner demonstrate the city's unwavering commitment to reuniting all World Trade Center victims with their loved ones.

There are now 1104 victims still to be identified.

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This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

Source used:

RTL Infos: 11 septembre 2001 : deux nouvelles victimes identifiées 22 ans après les attentats