The remains of two victims killed in the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks 22 years ago were identified, New York City officials announced on Friday.
One man and one woman, whose names were not published at the request of their families, were identified using advanced DNA technology, according to multiple reports.
According to ABC News, the individuals are the 1,648th and 1,649th victims to be identified of the 2,753 people killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. These victims are the first new identifications from the World Trade Center from 9/11 since September 2021.
To this day, about 40 percent of those who died in New York on 9/11 remain unidentified, ABC noted.
In a statement, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “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."
Axios noted that determining 9/11 victims “remains the largest and most challenging forensic identification effort ever,” adding that “in many cases, victims’ DNA was “severely degraded by exposure to the intense heat of the burning jet fuel and months of moisture after the attacks.”
"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," New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said in a statement to the outlet.
A report from The New York Times noted that 22 years after the attacks, the number of emergency workers with the fire department who died from illnesses stemming from the attacks almost exceeds the number of firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty that day.