Objects from 9/11 rubble on show

Workers sifted nearly two million tonnes of rubble

An exhibition of artefacts found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center has opened in New York.

The show documents the work of those who sifted debris from the Twin Towers, which was taken to a landfill site.

It features more than 50 objects and 65 photographs, including a building beam and parts of the planes that hit the buildings on 11 September 2001.

Fresh Kills landfill site played a key part in the search for remains and criminal evidence after the attack.

Nearly two million tonnes of rubble were brought to the landfill in Staten Island after the destruction of the towers.

The work at Fresh Kills, several miles from Ground Zero and closed to the general public, is an important part of the 11 September story that most people do not know, exhibition organisers said.

"I don't think people have a good sense of the extraordinary lengths to which every single worker there went to find... anything to bring some comfort to the families who lost people on 11 September," said Amy Weinstein, assistant curator at the New York Historical Society.

Human remains

The photographs record the daily activities at the site, from the huge piles that had to be sorted to images of those who worked there.

The exhibition comprises artefacts, photographs and a film

Workers spent hours at conveyor belts watching for the smallest fragment of something vital to drift by.

More than 54,000 pieces of personal property, including rings, watches, wallets and ID cards, were found.

Of the nearly 20,000 human remains recovered from the ruins, more than 1,400 were found at the landfill, the city medical examiner's office has said.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Historical Society and the New York State Museum in Albany.