WTC victims, for first time, ID’d through DNA

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Eight people lost in the World Trade Center attack have become the first victims of the disaster to be identified through DNA in the biggest effort in history to use genetics to put names to the dead.

Their identities were established via DNA on personal belongings supplied by their loved ones.

The number of missing stood Wednesday at 4,339. Of the 478 people whose remains have been recovered, 425 have been identified. Authorities have said that because of the intense fire and the crushing weight of the rubble, many of the victims can only be identified through DNA.

After the Sept. 11 attack, families of the missing rooted through their loved ones’ personal effects. Investigators hope to use DNA from the toothbrushes, hairbrushes, chewed gum, licked envelopes and other items to identify the body parts being taken from the smoking ruins.

The names of the first eight victims were not released.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Wednesday urged more families to submit samples.

"What we’re recovering are parts of bodies," he said. "So I don’t want to offer a great deal of hope that we’re going to be able to recover bodies in the way that people ordinarily think of that."

The round-the-clock identification operation is coordinated by the city medical examiner’s office. Hundreds of body parts arrive at the office daily, each in a separate bag with its own number.

Tissue samples are collected from all remains and sent to two private laboratories for DNA typing. The city and the state police forensic laboratory do the final match-ups against material collected from relatives.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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