US marks 22nd anniversary of September 11 attacks

WASHINGTON: United States on Monday marked the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack where hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon building in Virginia and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania and killed around 3,000 people.

According to the Voice of America, US President Joe Biden will address the members of the military, first responders and their families at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. This will be a rare occasion as the September 11 anniversary will be observed without the US President appearing at observances at crash sites in New York, Pennsylvania or the Pentagon.Biden’s Alaska stop comes as he travels home from an overseas trip that included the G20 summit in India and meeting with leaders in Vietnam.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the US faced the deadliest terrorist attack in its history. Around 3,000 people were killed in the terror attacks. In a span of just 102 minutes, the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center collapsed after planes hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives crashed into them.

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001, US Congress had designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day," and by Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the Congress has requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized "National Day of Service and Remembrance."

A few days back, New York City officials identified two more victims of the September 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center. The man and woman identified are the 1,648th and 1,649th victims identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, according to CNN citing a news release from the mayor’s office.

The two were identified through advanced DNA testing of their remains, the release added.

The man was identified through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001 and the woman through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2001, 2006, and 2013, according to the release.

The techniques used to make these identifications over two decades later “include recently adopted next-generation sequencing technology — more sensitive and rapid than conventional DNA techniques — which has been used by the U.S. military to identify the remains of missing American servicemembers,” the statement said.

As per CNN, despite these advancements in DNA technology, roughly 40 per cent of the victims, or about 1,100 people thought to have died in the disaster, remain unidentified. A total of 2,753 people were reported missing in lower Manhattan after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Death certificates were issued for all 2,753, although the work to match the names of victims with remains from the site continues.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams noted in the announcement the victims’ families who continue to grieve.

“As we prepare to mark the anniversary of September 11, our thoughts turn to those we lost on that terrible morning and their families who continue to live every day with the pain of missing loved ones,” he said.

“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,” CNN quoted Adams saying.