More Remains Found At WTC Site

More human remains were pulled from the debris of the World Trade Center on Wednesday, as the clearing of the site continued toward its final stages.

It was not immediately known how many sets of remains were recovered, but reports varied from three to five.

Earlier in the week, the city medical examiner identified the remains of 21 people, including one flight attendant who had been aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

The continuing retrieval Wednesday came a day after the medical examiner positively identified the remains of two firefighters - Matthew Barnes, 37, and John McAvoy, 47. On Tuesday, firefighters were seen carrying two more sets of remains from the site on flag-draped stretchers.

Also identified this week were the remains of Betty Ann Ong, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the trade center; Lt. Daniel O'Callaghan, a firefighter; and Sgt. Timothy Roy of the New York Police Department's traffic unit.

Barnes had been awarded the department's Honor Legion Medal for his role in a March 1999 rescue of infant twins from a Manhattan high-rise apartment fire.

Linda Kalodner leaned out the window of her 9th-floor apartment and handed the first twin, Isabelle, to Barnes. To reach the dangling child, Barnes first tied himself to the top of a 100-foot ladder and then had to reach out several feet toward the window to get close enough to grasp her.

Barnes brought the sleeping child to safety on the ground and then climbed back up the ladder to get the second twin, Jacob. Kalodner was evacuated by firefighters through a stairwell.

Of the 343 Fire Department members lost on Sept. 11, the remains of nearly 160 have been identified.