9/11 Victim Fund Rejects a Third of Injury Claims

A third of the injury claims to the government’s Sept. 11 victim compensation fund have been turned down, mainly for lack of medical proof or because ailments have cleared up.

The fund has received 4,419 injury claims, significantly more than administrators expected when the application period ended late last year. Almost 1,600 have been rejected, fund officials said.

The 2,321 people granted compensation, almost all from injuries sustained at the World Trade Center twin towers cleanup sites, received between $500 and $7.9 million each. Decisions on the roughly 500 claims remaining will be made by June 15.

Only a small percentage of the claims were for injuries sustained in the evacuation of the towers and of downtown Manhattan. Most sought money for long-term breathing problems attributed to working on “the pile,” the mountain of burning rubble left when the towers collapsed.

In making their determinations, fund administrators seek proof the applicant was at ground zero within 72 hours of the terrorist attacks, or 96 hours in the case of rescue workers. They also insist on medical documentation.

Fund officials would not say how much they’ve paid out for injuries, because many of the final awards had yet to be calculated.

Nearly all the families of those killed in the attacks have filed for federal compensation. To date, the average payout for a death has been almost $1.9 million.