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Remembering the fallen FDNY heroes from 9/11
The country is set to mark the 24 year anniversary of 9/11 later this week. FOX 5 NY's Linda Schmidt has more.
NEW YORK - Thursday will mark 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and the toll from illnesses linked to Ground Zero continues to grow.
The FDNY has added 39 names to its World Trade Center memorial wall in Brooklyn, honoring firefighters who died in the past year from diseases tied to rescue and recovery work after the attacks.
Onlookers flee as the Twin Towers are hit.
What we know:
On Sept. 11, 2001, 343 members of the department were killed when the Twin Towers collapsed. In the years since, more than 400 additional firefighters have died from 9/11-related illnesses.
"This year, we add 39 new names to our World Trade Center Memorial Wall," an FDNY official said during Tuesday’s ceremony. "These losses continue to mount, and our heartbreak continues to grow. To the families here today, I say thank you for coming. Thank you for letting us support you."
Firefighters look into a vehicle damaged during the 9/11 terror attacks on the Twin Towers. Photograph is from 8 rolls of unedited film taken by an anonymous photojournalist at ground zero that day. (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs) …
The memorial wall, located at FDNY headquarters in downtown Brooklyn, serves as a reminder that the devastation of 9/11 did not end when the smoke cleared.
The Sept. 11 attacks remain the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil. In a meticulously planned plot, al-Qaeda hijackers seized four commercial airliners. Two planes struck the World Trade Center towers, another hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth, Flight 93, crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. Nearly 3,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured.
The FBI’s investigation into the attacks—code-named "PENTTBOM," short for Pennsylvania, Pentagon and Twin Towers Bombing—was the largest in the bureau’s history.
Toxic exposure
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Deaths from 9/11 illnesses hit tragic milestone
The number of FDNY first responders killed by 9/11 related illnesses is now equal to the number killed on the day of the attacks, a number that firefighters believe will continue to climb without critical funding.
For survivors and first responders, the aftermath of 9/11 is still unfolding. Toxic exposure at Ground Zero continues to claim lives each year, and for the families who gathered this week, the memorial wall is a painful reminder that the story of 9/11 has never truly ended.
How mant people died in 9/11?
In total, 2,977 people from 90 nations were killed: 2,753 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 aboard Flight 93.
The Source: This report is based on information from the FBI, the 9/11 memorial organization and the FDNY.