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New York service planned for dead, missing

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As the search for survivors continued Wednesday, New York began planning a prayer service for the families of victims of the September 11 attacks that leveled the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

A service is planned for 3 p.m. Sunday at Yankee Stadium, with jumbo television screens simulcasting the event elsewhere in the city, Mayor Rudy Giuliani said.

The program will be determined by religious leaders, police and fire departments and other organizations hit by the disaster, he said.

"It will be mostly for the families and the people directly affected by it," he said.

It is too early to have a city-wide memorial service, he said. Not only is it too early in the grieving process, but it would further strain the already stretched police and National Guard forces, many of whom have been working 12-hour shifts since September 11, he said.

Sen. Hillary Clinton is working with Sen. Charles Schumer to release a stamp commemorating the "911 Heroes," she said.

Profits from the venture will be given to a fund to be administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency "to help defray the costs and the needs of the thousands of people who have been been affected by this tragedy," she told CNN's Larry King Live.

"We have orphans and widows and bereft people who are going to need our help for a long time to come," she said.

"I believe we will get through this and we will be the stronger for it," she added.

A week after the last survivor was pulled from the rubble, two teams of 2,200 rescue workers, each working 12-hour shifts, continued their search Wednesday, but found only bodies and parts of bodies.

The number of confirmed dead reached 233, 170 of whom have been identified, Giuliani told reporters.

Forty of the dead were uniformed officers: 35 New York City firefighters, two emergency medical technicians, two Port Authority police officers and one New Jersey firefighter.

Workers have removed 59,982 tons of debris in 4,464 truckloads, Giuliani said.

Many more victims are believed buried in the rubble: the city's family center has registered 4,201 victims, and 5,422 missing persons reports have been filed with the police department. "Those are probably the same people," Giuliani said.

The search is being led by the Fire Department, with help from the Police Department and the Department of Corrections. In addition, hundreds of volunteers from around the country are helping, said Fire Department spokesman Jerry Sanford.

At the family center, set up on a pier on the Hudson River, 40 services are being offered to family members of victims, the mayor said.

They include the city's medical examiner, who was answering questions about the use of DNA analysis to identify bodies and body parts, a process that will begin "as early as possible, so that we are able to identify the maximum number of people possible," Giuliani said.

The city's Human Resources Administration has opened a disaster benefits assistance center in Lower Manhattan, Giuliani said.






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