[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
9/11 See other 9/11 Articles Title: Lung disease woman named as victim 2,570 of 9/11 tragedy A NEW York lawyer has been added to the number of victims killed in the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001, in the first confirmed death from dust generated by the collapse of the twin towers. Felicia Dunn-Jones, 42, who was caught in the dust cloud while fleeing the collapsing towers, died of sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation and scarring in the lungs, on 10 February, 2002. "Mrs Dunn-Jones's exposure to World Trade Centre dust on 9/11 contributed to her death, and has been ruled a homicide," wrote New York's chief medical examiner, Charles Hirsch. The city said the 11 September death toll at the World Trade Centre now stands at 2,750. Ms Dunn-Jones will be listed on the 11 September memorial when it opens in 2009, a spokeswoman for the World Trade Centre Memorial Foundation said. Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, who chairs the memorial foundation, said his "thoughts and prayers are with the Dunn-Jones family". Ms Dunn-Jones's family had asked last year that the medical examiner add her name to the death toll, but Mr Hirsch wrote at the time that his office could not link her death to the exposure "with certainty beyond a reasonable doubt". Since then, a doctor for the Fire Department of New York published a study that found firefighters who worked at ground zero contracted sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the attacks than before, linking the disease firmly to the dust exposure. Mr Hirsch's spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said she did not have any information on other cases that might be reviewed. Ms Dunn-Jones's estate had received a benefit of $2.6 million (£1.2 million) from a fund to compensate victims' families. A class action lawsuit claims that dozens of deaths have been caused by exposure to toxic dust from the Trade Centre attacks. Ms Dunn-Jones was not one of the 10,000 plaintiffs suing the city over their exposure to 11 September dust. But David Worby, the lawyer who filed the suit, said he hoped listing her as a 9/11 victim supported arguments that people exposed to the toxic plume of pulverised concrete, jet fuel, asbestos and other toxins could contract rare diseases very quickly. Mr Worby said that more than 100 of his clients had died, and at least five of those people had sarcoidosis. Residents and workers near the Trade Centre were reassured by the US Environmental Protection Agency following the attacks that the air was safe, but dust samples taken by the EPA at the time were found to contain dangerous levels of asbestos. A New Jersey medical examiner last year ruled that the death in January 2006 of a retired detective, James Zadroga, 34, was "directly related" to his work at ground zero on and after 11 September. Mr Zadroga's father, Joseph, said his son also suffered from sarcoidosis and that he and many others should be added to the list of victims. "I think that anybody that passes as a result of 9/11 should be listed on the wall," said Mr Zadroga. "They're going to be adding to that wall for the next 20 years." New York politicians agreed. "Sadly, we have known that Felicia is not alone and that others have died from ailments caused by 9/11," said US Representative Carolyn Maloney. "I hope that the medical examiner is no longer in denial about the Trade Centre dust. Dr Hirsch must review the cases of other 9/11 heroes who, like Felicia, died in the prime of their lives."
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||