2 new 9/11 victims identified as medical examiner vows to continue testing remains

Twenty-two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has positively identified two more victims, the city announced Friday.

The names are being withheld at the request of the families, but they are the 1,648th and 1,649th victims to be identified of the 2,753 people killed at the World Trade Center.

These two victims are the first new World Trade Center identifications since September 2021.

Forty percent of those who died at the World Trade Center -- 1,104 victims -- remain unidentified.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner vowed to continue testing fragments of remains as DNA technology evolves in order to identify as many victims as possible.

"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.

Mayor Eric Adams added, "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."

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum's annual commemoration ceremony will take place on Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET.