Firefighter identified in retesting of WTC remains

Anthoula Katsimatides, right, a member of the 911 Memorial board, views the wreckage of FDNY Engine 21 recovered from the World Trade Center (WTC) site and installed at the 911 Memorial Museum on Thursday, June 27, 2013 in New York. Her brother John Katsimatides was killed when planes struck the WTC towers September 11, 2001, where he worked as a trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. Engine Company 21was dispatched to the World Trade Center after hijacked Flight 175 struck the South Tower. It was parked beneath an elevated walkway when the towers fell. AP

NEW YORK — Authorities say remains of a firefighter killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been identified more than 11 years after his death at the World Trade Center.

The city medical examiner’s office said Friday that Lt. Jeffrey Walz’s remains were collected before May 2002 but retested and identified only recently.

The 37-year-old Walz was an engineer before he decided to follow his father’s example and become a firefighter in 1992.

He was killed in the trade center’s north tower, leaving a wife and toddler son.

Some 2,753 people died in the attacks on the trade center. Friday’s announcement brings the number of identified victims to 1,637.

New identifications are made periodically. Most recently, authorities said two weeks ago they had identified a 43-year-old woman. Her name wasn’t released.