Victims’ names engraved into the National 9/11 Memorial in New York (Picture: Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)
The remains of two more people who died in the 9/11 attacks have been identified as the US prepares to mark 22 years since the tragedy.
Authorities confirmed the identification of a man and a woman killed after two planes hijacked by terrorists hit the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.
At the request of their families, their names have not been released.
New York City’s medical examiner has matched remains to 1,649 World Trade Centre victims so far, using DNA sequencing techniques that tests body fragments found in the rubble.
Advancements in sequencing technology has meant remains that previously tested negative for identifiable remains are now testing positive.
The process is also being used to identify victims of last month’s wild fires on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Almost 3,000 people lost their lives on the day of the 9/11 attacks, which also saw a hijacked plane hit the Pentagon in Washington and another crash into an open field in Pennsylvania.
The World Trade Center towers after being hit by two hijaked planes on September 11, 2001 (Credits: Erik Pendzich/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite technological advancements, the identification of victims has slowed down in recent years, with the last positive identification happening in 2019.
And more than 1,000 human remains have yet to be linked to victims.
They are 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 of all the people who died that day.
‘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,’ he said.
An American flag by the National 9/11 Memorial in New York (Picture: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
The towers before the attack (Picture: Michel Setboun/Corbis via Getty Images)
Earlier this week President Joe Biden rejected a plea deal for five Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of coordinating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The proposed plea agreement would have seen the five defendants plead guilty to war crimes.
They would have received life prison sentences and avoid the death penalty.
‘The 9/11 attacks were the single worst assault on the United States since Pearl Harbor,’ a White House spokesperson said.
‘The president does not believe that accepting the joint policy principles as a basis for a pre-trial agreement would be appropriate in these circumstances.’
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The man and the woman had died after two hijacked planes struck the World Trade Centre in New York.