9/11 victim’s remains identified nearly 16 years later

NEW YORK — The remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center on 9-11 have been identified nearly 16 years after the attacks, medical examiners said Monday. His name was withheld at his family’s request, the New York City medical examiner’s office said.

The announcement marked the first new identification made since March 2015 in the painstaking, ongoing effort. The office uses DNA testing and other means to match bone fragments to the 2,753 people killed by the hijackers who crashed airplanes into the trade centre’s twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Remains of 1,641 victims have been identified so far. That means 40 per cent of those who died have yet to have any remains identified.

New, more sensitive DNA technology was deployed earlier this year and helped make the latest identification after earlier testing produced no results, the medical examiner’s office said.