Cancer Hits More Than 2500 Ground Zero Workers

Some 2518 workers who took part in the 9/11 emergency and the gruelling challenge of cleaning up in its aftermath, have been diagnosed with cancer, according to the New York Post.

The dust cloud kicked up from the Twin Towers was a mixture of toxic debris: pulverized concrete, jet fuel, plus tiny bits of glass, lead and asbestos, to name but a few ingredients.

An unnamed source told the newspaper: "I knew that day that a lot of us would get sick."

The Post learned that of the 37,000 police officers, sanitation workers and city employees who worked on Ground Zero and are registered on the World Trade Center Health Program at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, 1,655 have been diagnosed with cancer.

However, when Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and firefighters are added, this figure jumps to 2,518, with the Fire Department New York (FDNY) recently saying that 863 of its members have been granted health treatment as a result of 9/11.

The Post adds that this number is more than double the 1,140 cancer cases that were reported last year.

One retired captain of the FDNY recently received a $1.5m (£883,423, €1.1m) pay-out from 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) for his battle with lung disease and pancreatic cancer, which was deemed inoperable.

"I'm hoping they rush more cases like mine, where we're not expected to last long," he said.

Successful VCF claimants receive 10% of their claims straight away, with the rest due in 2016.

As of 30 June, only 115 workers have received compensation, barely 10% of the 1,145 claims listing cancer, with pay-outs totalling slightly over $50m.

The 9/11 Tragedy claimed more than 2,700 lives in the first instance when two planes crashed into New York's World Trade Centers in 2001 in one of the worst terrorist attacks the world has ever seen.

These figures illustrate that that toll is still growing almost 13 years after the first instance.