How many people died and were injured in the 9/11 attacks?
It has been 23 years since the deadliest terrorist attack ever, whose death toll has continued to grow in the more than two decades that have passed.
We are approaching the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which took the lives of thousands of innocent people and emergency officials. Many of the survivors and the families of those who perished that day still suffer daily from the trauma experienced in the attacks, the sense of survivor’s guilt, and the injuries they sustained.
In 2023, the New York Fire Department added 43 new names to the World Trade Center Memorial Wall. In the aftermath of the heinous terrorist attack, emergency personnel worked around the clock in an effort to find survivors among the rubble of the Twin Towers. However, the debris and the smoke that rose from it were later found to be hightly toxic, resulting in fatal medical conditions that is slowly claiming more victims as the years pass.
How many people died in the attacks?
It has been confirmed by CNN that 2,997 people were killed in the September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and in the United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field. In addition, 19 hijackers committed murder-suicide in the four attacks.
How many firefighters died in the attacks?
Following the attacks, emergency officials rushed to rescue people trapped in the towers and 412 emergency workers and 343 firefighters lost their lives.
Over 6,000 people were injured in the attacks, many of whom survived thanks to the bravery shown by first responders.
The names of all of the people who died on September 11th can be seen in a memorial located where the World Trade Center complex once stood in New York City.
Tragically, more than 20 years after the attacks, victims are still being identified. Two victims were identified in 2021, one of whom was Dorothy Morgan, of Hempstead, New York. The other victim has not been publicly named per request by his family. In 2023, another two victims’ remains were identified, but their families have expressed the desire that the names not be released. In total, 1,649 victims have been identified through DNA tests.
“We hope these new identifications can bring some measure of comfort to the families of these victims. 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,” said Mayor Adams.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner used recently adopted next-generation sequencing technology which is used by the US military to make the breakthrough after two decades of negative results. “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,” said Dr. Jason Graham, the Chief Medical Examiner for New York.
The 9/11 attacks shocked the world and irreversibly changed the United States. The Pentagon and the Twin Towers were not only densely-populated areas with a high number of potential victims, but were also powerful symbols of the nation.
Across the country, Americans will pause on Wednesday to remember those who lost their lives in the September 11th attacks.