9/11 Deaths: More Cops Now Dead From Ground Zero Related Illnesses Than Attack Itself

The number of police officers killed in the 9/11 attacks officially grew by 20 this week, making the number of officers dead of Ground Zero-related illnesses now outnumber those killed in the terrorist attack itself.

The names of 20 police officers were added to the New York State Police Officers’ Memorial in Albany, with their deaths being officially connected to the work in Ground Zero after the attacks. Those added include 12 NYPD officers and another from suburban Peekskill, all of whom died of illnesses contracted from working in the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

Authorities said 13 of the officers died from cancers directly related to the work after 9/11 on the collapsed towers. A total of 60 officers died in the attack itself.

“I live near the World Trade Center. I inhaled the toxic smoke that permeated every square inch of lower Manhattan,” New York state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. “I know how nobly and heroically the NYPD carried out their duties on that tragic September day and the terrible days that followed.”

At the ceremony this week, New York Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy noted that first responders have faced years of debilitating illness and injuries as a result of working on recovery and clean-up duties. The towers themselves sent ash, acrid smoke, and asbestos into the air.

The 9/11 deaths follow a troubling pattern for those around Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks. Last year the Centers for Disease Control estimated that more than 1,100 people who lived or worked near the World Trade Center have been diagnosed with cancer, a direct result of the attacks.

The federal government has taken steps to care for those who responded to 9/11. In 2012, health authorities added 58 new types of cancer to the list of illnesses covered by insurance for first responders.