The names of about 40 people listed on the World Trade Center death toll for more than two years are being removed because the city cannot confirm their deaths or even their existence, a city official said Tuesday. The city was to announce the change in death toll from 2,792 to about 2,750 on Wednesday. The decision was made by several city agencies, including the medical examiner’s office, the police department and the mayor’s office, said the city official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. The city formed a group called the Reported Missing Committee, charged with weeding out fraud and crossing errors off the death list, which peaked at 6,700 two weeks after the attack. As of early September 2003, police had made about 40 arrests related to people falsely claiming they lost loved ones, and law enforcement agencies in other cities have nabbed others.
In most cases, victims whose remains have not been identified have been legally declared dead by the court and their families issued death certificates based on documents or other proof they were at the trade center or on the hijacked airplanes. In the cases expected to be removed, no such proof was ever found and remains were never identified. About 60 percent of the victims have been identified. |