As 9/11 victims continue to show up, officials and supporters fear that the Compensation Fund will dry up

Seventeen years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, new victims continue to appear – and officials are now worried about the creation of a fund to help people with related illnesses. to September 11th.

The September 11th, $ 7.3 billion Victims Compensation Fund, created to provide financial assistance to those suffering from the attack and toxic dust at Ground Zero, has already disbursed $ 4 billion. .

"Looking at the data more recently, I'm starting to worry a little bit," Rupa Bhattacharyya, the special master of the Victims Fund, told The New York Daily News.

Bhattacharyya told PIX11 that the fund was not in jeopardy "imminent", but that the long-term status of the money might be different.

Tens of thousands of people inhaled toxic dust at Ground Zero in the days and weeks following the Islamic terrorist attack and desperately searched for survivors and began a difficult cleanup. And year after year, an impressive number of these workers have presented 9/11-related illnesses.

Compensation Fund officials have reviewed 39,502 claims for this year as at August 31, an increase of nearly 28% from last year 's total, reported the New York Daily News. About 20,000 applications were approved in 2018.

The difficulty however lies in determining the amount each person will receive. Those approved this year could receive up to $ 200,000.

A September 9 workers' advocate said he was worried that those who filed this year and in the coming years will receive less money than those who preceded him.

"I'm sure they will run out of money," said John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, at the New York Daily News. "But I do not think people should be concerned now. I bet on my only kidney that we will extend the VCF.

But the growing number of claims in 2018 may not be an anomaly, and Bhattacharyya said the number of people with 9/11-related illnesses could continue to rise.

"There are diseases with long latency periods," she said. "We often talk about mesothelioma and we will not even see it before 15 or 20 years. We will not see these claims for a moment.

About 400,000 people lived and worked near the twin towers at the time of the attack. About 90,000 first responders were on the site after the attack.

Of the 88,484 first responders and survivors of September 11, enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, about 10,000 have cancer, the New York Daily News reported.

"The numbers are real," Feal said. "It's not better. It's getting worse. "

Uniformed Firefighters Association President Jake Lemonda told a press conference Monday that more than 1,000 ground firefighters had been diagnosed with cancer or respiratory illness. At least 182 firefighters died of 9/11-related illnesses.

At the end of this year, many officials expect the total number of people dying of toxic dust-related diseases at the scene of the terrorist attack to exceed 2,977 deaths on September 11, 2001. Reported .