Hundreds of people, some sobbing, filtered into a building on a Hudson River pier, many to begin the heartbreaking process of applying for death certificates for loved ones still missing in the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center.
"I'm still hopeful that somehow my wonderful wife will be found alive, but for the sake of our children I have to somehow sort through this," George Santiago, 37, of Brooklyn, said Wednesday, his eyes brimming with tears.
More than 6,300 people are missing in the crumbled towers. Only about 300 people have been confirmed dead, and officials say it could take months to remove and identify the victims of the fiery disaster, and that some may never be found at all.
Typically, it can take three years to get a death certificate without a body, a waiting period used to prevent fraud. But the city is streamlining the process -- and reducing the wait to a few days in most cases -- so that victims' families can get death benefits and access to bank accounts.
On Wednesday, the first day of the speeded-up process, some relatives said they were not ready to say goodbye and only wanted to see what the process was. A police officer at the gate said some families got as far as the door, then became overcome with emotion and left.
Many of those in line clutched envelopes containing documents such as birth and marriage certificates, along with photographs.
For Barbara and Clive Sohan of Hazlet, New Jersey, who lost their only child, 32-year-old Astrid Sohan, a death certificate was a way to try to move past paralyzing uncertainty.
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