Tallies Conflict on Victim Toll at Trade Center

More than six weeks after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, the precise number of casualties remains under dispute.

The official New York City count Saturday was 4,655 missing or dead, but some news organizations compiling their own figures have reported significantly lower totals--some under 3,000--with a host of factors contributing to the confusion.

An exact number is not an academic exercise. Issues of governmental aid, insurance claims and contributions from charities to grieving families are embedded in the death toll.

Police Sort Multiple Lists

Reflecting both the difficulty and the sensitivity of the task, 200 police officers are sorting through multiple sets of lists, from missing person reports to employee rolls of companies with offices in the trade center complex.

“We check all the lists to see if there are duplications,” said a worker familiar with the process being used by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s administration.

”. . . That is a huge job. It’s done in a very closely guarded area. You have to have special clearance,” said the worker, who asked not to be identified. “They don’t want embarrassment. They don’t want to cause undue stress to people. They don’t want fraud or undue grief.”

Since the collapse of the twin towers on Sept. 11, the city’s dead or missing toll has fluctuated widely. In the first few days, when a torrent of missing employee reports from foreign governments flowed in, estimates of the missing or dead climbed to more than 6,000. That total has declined steadily.

Giuliani this week expressed confidence in the process that the city was following. Police officials pointed out they have more sources than those conducting private compilations.

In part, the conflicting tallies stem from two problems: sorting through multiple lists on which the same person can be reported several times, and finding identifiable human remains still buried under the still-smoldering rubble.

Also, the number of visitors on adjacent streets or at the trade center on the morning of Sept. 11 is uncertain. The skyscrapers were a major tourist attraction for sightseers from around the world.

Adding even more difficulty is the number of foreign nationals who were employed by companies at the trade center complex. More than 60 nations have sent in lists of tourists and workers believed to have been at the trade center complex.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operated the towers, did not maintain a list of employees in the complex. Nor is there a list of temporary office, delivery or maintenance workers.

In addition to the city, others are also counting: The New York Times, Associated Press, Newsday, Bloomberg News and USA Today are compiling lists of the dead or missing. Each has its own system.

At Times, Grieving Families Are Called

AP so far has identified 2,901 victims. Last week, the Times put its total at 2,405, Newsday at about 2,900, USA Today at 2,950 and Bloomberg News at more than 3,000.

Trying to compile accurate totals can be a grim and at times sensitive task.

Newspaper obituaries in the U.S. and overseas are studied. At times, grieving family members are telephoned for confirmation.

Other information comes from the medical examiner, death certificates, police in nearby states, schools, court records, funeral homes, religious institutions and American Airlines and United Airlines, whose hijacked planes struck the towers.

“We have been running a 24-hour operation out of Chicago,” said an AP newsman involved in the trade center list. “We haven’t stopped yet.”