[h=2]Remains of some victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US were taken to a landfill site, a Pentagon report has found.[/h]
"Several portions of remains" found at the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania crash site presumably ended up in landfill after being handed to a private firm, the report said.
The victims were among those killed when a plane hijacked by terrorists struck the Pentagon and another crashed in Shanksville, killing 40 people.
Remains that could not be tested or identified were given to a bio-medical waste disposal contractor.
The contractor incinerated them and then took them to a landfill.
The information was in a report on the military's Dover mortuary, where the practice of putting partial unidentified remains in landfill was discontinued in 2008.
The report contradicted an earlier account from the air force, which had said last year there were no records that showed how remains were handled before 2003.
The exact number of victims involved is not clear.
Retired General John Abizaid, chairman of the independent committee that conducted the report, said: "We don't think it should have happened."
The panel was formed after an investigation last year found there was "gross mismanagement" at the Dover facility and body parts had been lost on two occasions.
Reports following that investigation said some remains of at least 274 American war dead were dumped in landfill until the practice was halted.
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said the service had accepted "responsibility and culpability" over the mismanagement of the mortuary.
He told reporters it was now working to ensure no more mistakes occur. "Our focus is from here forward," he said.
9/11 Victims' Remains Were Taken To Landfill, Finds Pentagon Report | World News | Sky News
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