9/11: Remains of two more attack victims identified ahead of 22nd anniversary
The remains of two more people who died during the 9/11 attacks in 2001 have been identified as part of a decades-long effort to return them to their families.
A man and a woman were both identified, New York City officials said, but their names have been withheld.
The city’s medical examiner has now identified 1,649 World Trade Centre victims through their remains, using DNA sequencing to test fragments from the bodies discovered in the rubble.
Advancements in technology, which include increased test sensitivity and faster turnaround times, mean remains that have tested negative for identifiable DNA can now be identified.
The same methods are used to identify missing service members in the US military, as well as to test the remains of more than 100 people who died during the wildfires in Maui last month.
However, despite the advancements in the technology the rate of positive identifications has slowed in recent years, with the last being two years ago, and then again two years before that.
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There are more than 1,000 human remains from the attacks that are yet to be identified, and are currently being stored at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Centre site.
Dr Jason Graham, the city’s chief medical examiner, said officials were committed to fulfilling their “solemn pledge” to return the remains.
“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.”
Monday marks 22 years since the attacks in New York, where two aircraft were hijacked by suicide bombers, and flown into the World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers, killing thousands.
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Another hijacked flight was flown into the Pentagon, while a fourth attempt crashed in rural Pennsylvania, after passengers overpowered the attackers.
It is widely accepted the attacks were carried out by terrorist group al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden.
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
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