RE: "I can't work out who these are because the first article mentions 10,000 specimens. Is the second article in fact saying that the 10,000 specimens belong to only 700 people?"
From what I understand, there were originally close to 20,000 specimens collected. Of those, approximately 10,000 have been identified as belonging to 1,600 of the known missing. It doesn't sound very pretty, but I assume there was an average of 6 pieces collected for each victim identified.
Of the remaining approximately 10,000 specimens, 700 profiles have been developed, which do not match any of the known missing. Assuming a similar average to those identified, that would account for a little less than half of the remaining samples. It might be assumed those remaining samples were not in good enough condition to make a conclusive identification possible.
RE: "This would mean that 3,400 people died at the WTC and not 2,700 and that only 47% of those missing were identified, a figure which is close to the identification rate of the missing firemen."
You set the problem up wrong for the line of reasoning you're trying to follow. If DNA tests established profiles for 1600 of the 2700 known victims, then the 700 profiles established for unknown victims would suggest approximately 1,200 unknown victims all together, for a total of 3,900 victims.
The idea of comparing the fireman numbers was a good thought, but as a statistical universe, the fireman numbers are within the margin of error for the smaller group. 53% vs. 59%, or about a 6% difference.
In any case, I find it interesting that for all the questions 9/11 researchers have asked, I don't recall anyone asking who those 700 DNA profiles belong to. |
