Firefighters walk towards one of the tower at the World Trade Center before it collapsed after a plane hit the building September 11, 2001 in New York City.Photo:Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty
Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora/Getty
The New York City Fire Department announced Saturday that the number of its first responders who have died from illnesses related to9/11is now equal to the number of FDNY members who died on the day ofthe terrorist attacks.
Two more first responders died this month of 9/11-related illnesses, bringing the death toll to 343, Fire CommissionerLaura Kavanaghsaid in the statement, which the FDNY shared onInstagram.
EMT Hilda Vannata died “after a battle with cancer,” and retired firefighter Robert Fulco “died of pulmonary fibrosis,” per the statement. The deaths of both individuals were the “result of time spent working in the rescue and recovery at the World Trade Center site."
“With these deaths, we have reached a somber, remarkable milestone,” Kavanagh continued. “We have now suffered the same number of deaths post September 11th as we experienced that day when the north and south towers fell. Our hearts break for the families of these members, and all who loved them.”
The commissioner continued, “Our responsibility to our FDNY colleagues extends far beyond what we asked of them on September 11th and in the days and months that followed during rescue and recovery.”
Kavanagh added that “the toll of these illnesses” on FDNY members “continues to grow,” with 11,000 people suffering from “WTC-related diseases, including 3,500 with cancer. “Our commitment to their service and sacrifice must remain as unshakeable for the next two decades as it has been for the last two,” she shared.
“So many of our members showed up for us that fateful day, and so many were lost,” she said. “The legacy we create for them is one of honor, and one of promise. That is why we continue to advocate for the survivors, and we will not stop pushing until all our members have the care they deserve, for the rest of their lives.”
“343 of our heroes lost in one day, and today, 343 more," Kavanagh concluded. “The FDNY will never forget them. This is our legacy. This is our promise.”
The update on the first responder death toll comes after a man and a woman killed on 9/11 wereformally identifiedjust days before the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks, according to the New York Mayor’s Office.
New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham said in apress releasethat the “two new identifications continue to fulfill a solemn pledge that OCME (Office of Chief Medical Examiner) made to return the remains of World Trade Center victims to theirloved ones.”
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The identifications were the first sinceSeptember 2021using DNA testing, Graham added. Out of all the victims who died in theWorld Trade Center attacks, 40% — around 1,104 people — “remain unidentified,” he said, per the release.
“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,” New York City MayorEric Adamssaid in the release.
source: people.com
