September 10, 2018 New York firefighters work in the burning rubble, as the search for victims at Ground Zero, on September 12, 2001. (Frank Becrrea Jr./The Journal News "Seventeen years out from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, nearly 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer. More than 2,000 deaths have been attributed to 9/11 illnesses." "It will get worse. By the end of 2018, many expect that more people will have died from their toxic exposure from 9/11 than were killed on that terrible Tuesday" Key Points: "I don't think we have reached 15 percent of the cancer we're going to see," said Dr. Ray Basri, New York Medical College professor and volunteer firefighter. It takes years, sometimes decades for cancers to develop from environmental exposures. "We believe that is what’s happening now," said Dr. Michael Crane of the World Trade Center Health Program at Mt. Sinai. Dr. Basri worries about rescue and recovery workers who tracked toxic dust back home. Could the exposure have been extended? The twisted silhouette of World Trade Center buildings loom above rescue workers at Ground Zero, on September 13, 2001/The Journal News READ MORE
The day before the storm: Photos of Sept 10, 2001 "If the world changed on September 11, 2001, what was life like the day before? Eight people share the photos they took of New York City and Washington DC the day before the infamous terrorist attacks, and answer three questions about their experiences at the time." "Evan Kuz took this photo of downtown New York on the afternoon of September 10, 2001, and says he made a fateful decision to go for a run before visiting the World Trade Centre the next day." (READ MORE) A storm rolls over New York City on the evening of September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr)(User submitted: Evan Kuz) Mike Horan stands in front of the New York skyline on September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr)(User submitted: Mike Horan)
This Saturday morning, Sept. 15, 2001 file picture shows the Statue of Liberty from a vantage point in Jersey City, N.J., as the lower Manhattan skyline is shrouded in smoke following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. (AP Photo/Dan Loh)
"The number of first responders who have died from 9/11-related illnesses now almost equals the number of firefighters who died during the terror attacks themselves." "A total of 341 New York City Fire Department firefighters, paramedics and civilian support staff who died from post-911 illnesses are now memorialized at the FDNY World Trade Center Memorial Wall, according to the Uniformed Firefighters Association. The memorial commemorates both first responders who died during the attacks and those who died from related illnesses in the years since." "That count almost equals the 343 New York firefighters who died during the 2001 attacks." "The fire department added 43 names to the memorial on September 6, according to a news release."