New technology helps medical examiners identify remains of 9/11 victim

Just a few weeks ahead of the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the New York City medical examiner's office was able to identify the remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center.

The man, whose name was withheld at the request of his family, is the World Trade Center's 1,641st identified victim. The medical examiner's office said they still have been unable to identify the remains of 1,112 people, or about 40 percent of those who died. It has been extremely difficult to identify the remains, as very few full bodies were recovered after the twin towers fell, and bacteria, heat, and jet fuel made it hard to analyze the fragments.

Earlier this year, the medical examiner's office started using new DNA technology, and began testing again; this is what helped them identify the man's remains, after earlier testing gave them zero results. This is the first new victim identification since March 2015.

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