Associated Press
to the World Trade Center site have found the remains of about a dozen
people in the past week, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The official recovery effort ended May 30 when the last debris from the
World Trade Center was cleared, but some of the surrounding buildings
had not been extensively searched.
Crews searching those buildings over the past week have found bone
fragments, teeth and even parts of a plane's luggage rack, the Times reported.
Deputy Assistant Chief Edward Kalletta, who is supervising the continuing
recovery effort, said the date Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose for the ending
ceremony was symbolic.
"We knew we weren't going to be finished that day," he said.
One of the buildings workers are now going through had been searched shortly
after the attacks, and rescue crews had found the remains of two people in an
elevator, along with large sections of one of the hijacked airplanes.
Recent visits with search dogs suggested more remains could be found,
the Times said.
Another building had a hole blown through the roof, and workers on Friday
searched the upper floors where windows were broken out. The crane used for
the search couldn't be erected until the bulk of the work at the trade center
site was complete, the Times said.
A third building, owned by Deutsche Bank, has not yet been searched, in part
because its owners fear the process could stir up dangerous contaminants,
the Times said.
"We are working in close cooperation with the city of New York to agree on a joint
plan for the removal of the debris in the most expeditious and environmentally safe
manner possible," said Rohini Pragasam, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank.
More than 2,800 people were killed when two hijacked planes were crashed into the
World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11. The New York medical examiner has identified
just over 1,100 victims from more than 19,500 body parts found in the wreckage.
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