22nd anniversary of 9/11 terror attack: Two victims identified more than two decades after terrorist attack on World Trade Center

File Photo. Pic/AFP

After more than two decades since the terrorist attacks and ahead of 22nd anniversary of 9/11 terror attack, the remains of two people who died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) have been identified, New York City's chief medical examiner said Friday.

Authorities confirmed the identification of the remains of a man and woman days ahead of the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 terror attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in Lower Manhattan. Their names were withheld by city officials at the request of their families, reported news agency Associated Press.

Officials have chosen to withhold the names of these two victims, a man and a woman, as per their families' request. They represent the 1,648th and 1,649th individuals whose remains have been identified since 2001, reported Associated Press.

According to an official release, the identification of the man was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001. The identification of the woman was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001, 2006, and 2013.

According to the report, New York 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, reported Associated Press.

Similar efforts are used by the US 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, reported Associated Press.

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, reported Associated Press. Before that, the last identification was made in 2019.

More than 1,000 human remains from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have yet to be identified. They are currently being stored at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site, reported Associated Press.

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," Dr. Jason Graham was quoted as saying by Associated Press.

(With inputs from Associated Press)