Tomorrow (11 September) marks the 22nd memorial of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center, New York City.
Regarded as one of the world’s deadliest terrorist attacks, almost 3,000 people were killed after the Twin Towers were struck in 2001.
And now, over two decades later, two new victims have been identified.
According to a news release from the mayor’s office, the man and woman are the 1,648th and 1,649th to be identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
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This is reportedly the first identifications since September 2021, CNN reports.
They’ve managed to do this identification using some very advanced DNA testing of the individuals’ remains.
They identified the woman by DNA testing remains recovered in 2001, 2006 and 2013.
For the man, they DNA tested remains recovered just back in 2001.
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These DNA testing techniques used to identify the victims nearly 22 years on ‘include recently adopted next-generation sequencing technology’.
The release says these are ‘more sensitive and rapid’ than more conventional DNA techniques.
The same technology has also been used by the U.S. military to identify the remains of missing American service members.
“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 New York City's Mayor Eric Adams.
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“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.”
As well as these two newly identified victims, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has identified 60 humans remains associated with previously identified individuals.
The mayor’s office say they are withholding the two victims names at the request of their families.
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They are two of the 2,753 people who tragically lost their lives that day in September 2001.
Recently, home footage was shared on TikTok from an apartment complex right by the Twin Towers which shows the chaos after the North Tower was struck.
The overlay text of the short clip uploaded by account user @9l11footage on TikTok reads: "9/11. Guy films the area around WTC complex from his apartment, while the North Tower is burning."
It shows civilians running out of the building and into the streets as the tower was engulfed in a cloud of dark grey smoke.
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The horrifying clip went viral after clocking up more than 142.7k views in less than 24 hours since it was first posted to the platform.
Topics: US News, World News, Science, Technology