Thursday, May 31, 2007

9/11 Death Toll Rises 6 Years Later

In an article put out by The Associated Press last week poses a new question for 9/11 survivors - how many will they be added to the list of victims?

Family members of ground zero workers who died after breathing in toxic dust from the collapsed World Trade Center say they want their relatives officially recognized as victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The official list of victims increased by one, nearly 6 years after the 9/11 terrorists attacks. A New York attorney, Felicia Dunn-Jones, who died of lung disease months after the attack, probed her family members to find out what distinguished her death from the scores of others attributed to the aftermath.

According to the article, the city medical examiner's office said that her death was the only Sept. 11-related fatality it has been asked to review and definitively link to the twin towers' collapse. In the future, the medical examiner will review any case if a family makes such a request.

This raise in death-toll, to 2,750, nearly 6 years later poses questions in the minds of family members who have since lost someone who could possibly be added to this ever-increasing list. It's up to Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch to decide whether to reclassify any deaths.

Family members want their loved one to be honored as an official 9/11 victim and at least two families are seeking re-examination. These cases include a police detective who became sick and died in 2006 of respiratory diseases and Deborah Reeve who also died last year of an asbestos-related cancer from the toxic dust at ground zero.

Since Dunn-Jones fled the collapsing towers from her office a block away and her death is being added to the official list of victims, another question is posed against the city, will there be lawsuits accusing the city of negligence for failing to protect workers and residents from toxic air at the site.

Are you or a family member a possible victim of 9/11? Get representation by New York and New Jersey asbestos attorneys, Levy Phillips & Konigsberg LLP.

Submit your case for review.

No comments: