Mix-up brings more grief for firefighters' family

New York’s grieving firefighters were today dealt a fresh blow when it emerged that one of their fallen colleagues had been wrongly identified and would have to be reburied.

The body of firefighter Christopher Santora, 23, was mistakenly identified as Jose Guadalupe, 37, who was also among the 343 members of the New York Fire Department killed in the attack on the World Trade Centre.

Today it was revealed that the body the Guadalupe family buried was actually that of Mr Santora, and ironically, Mr Santora’s family had attended the funeral.

The distressing error only came to light when results from DNA testing, to try to name unidentified bodies, were received by New York’s medical examiner almost two months after the Guadalupe family’s burial service.

Both men were from the Engine Company 54, a squad which lost 15 of its members when the towers collapsed on September 11.

Pathologists made the initial mistake just two days after the attack, when they identified the first body as that of Mr Guadalupe. It was found near the fire engine he drove and was wearing a gold chain which has family said was his.

Pathologists also found an anomaly in two of the vertebrae in his neck, matching X-rays supplied by the fire department, leading them to make the identification.

On October 1 his family and fellow firefighters attended his funeral, but this week, DNA tests showed the body was actually that of Mr Santora.

By an amazing coincidence, both men had the same congenital abnormality in their neck, and it was only the DNA evidence which could tell them apart, as both also wore gold chains.

Today Mr Santora’s body was being exhumed and his family were preparing to turn the memorial service they had been due to hold on Saturday into a funeral.

The Guadalupe family were preparing for a second funeral service to bury Mr Guadalupe whose body was among those found later and being identified through DNA testing.

The Santora family had been told their son’s body had not been found and had almost given up hope they would ever be able to bury him.

Mr Santora’s mother, Maureen, told the New York Times: ‘‘It’s hard to tell in words what my reaction is.

‘‘My first reaction is, how terrible it is for the Guadalupe family. I feel awful this is on the back of someone who had closure.

‘‘I can’t explain how this happened. I can’t be angry. I’ve been praying all these weeks and crying and not knowing whether they would find a body. I can’t be angry. But this mistake has caused a lot of grief.’’

The men’s colleagues were today learning of the mix-up.

Captain Richard Parenty, of Engine Company 54, said: ‘‘A lot of guys don’t know yet. Emotions are running high, as I’m sure you can imagine.’’