More Missing at World Trade Center

N E W   Y O R K, Sept. 20 -- The number of people believed missing or dead in the attack on the World Trade Center swelled by more than 900, from 5,422 to 6,333, today largely because of new victim lists submitted from abroad, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.

Rescue workers today struggled with intermittent rain as they continued to search the rubble for survivors. But no one has been found alive since the day after Sept. 11, when two hijacked airplanes crashed into the Trade Center's twin towers, leaving thousands missing and believed dead.

So far, 241 bodies have been recovered, Giuliani said tonight. The number of injured stands at 6,291. Crews have removed 68,943 tons of debris from the site, but an estimated 1 million to 2 million tons remain, and officials have said it will take at least six months to clear it all.

New York Fire Lt. James Earl, coming off a rescue shift on "the pile," told ABCNEWS this afternoon the rain makes the work even harder than it already was.

"It makes everything slippery," Earl said. "It makes it hard to work, makes the tools wet. It just makes it much more hazardous for the workers that are in there."

Earlier, officials said they had identified 170 of the dead, including 37 police officers, 32 firefighters, two emergency medical technicians, two Port Authority employees and one New Jersey firefighter. According to city officials' estimates, at least 60 police officers and more than 300 firefighters are among the missing.

Horror and Diminishing Hopes

While maintaining hope, Giuliani in recent days has conceded the chances of finding any more survivors is growing increasingly slim.

But Earl said the remaining glimmer of hope keeps rescue workers going and prevents them from giving up.

"In earthquakes, they've pulled people out after 14 days, after two weeks, if someone's at a spot where there's some kind of availability of water, which is one way that the rain might help somebody if they're trapped in there," he said.

"Hopefully, there are signs of life, but realistically we're starting to lose hope for that," he said. "But we're forcing ourselves to still hope. We know that it's still a possibility."