Remains of 11 firefighters, 2 civilians found at Ground Zero

Rescue workers and firefighters carry the body of a firefighter from Ground Zero.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Workers recovered the remains of 11 firefighters and two civilians from the rubble of the World Trade Center on Tuesday, a fire department spokesman said.

At least two of the firefighters whose remains were discovered were members of Ladder Company 4, a unit in a firehouse in midtown Manhattan that lost 17 firefighters on September 11, the spokesman said.

The bodies were found at the south roadway beneath what was the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The South Tower was the second building struck by a jetliner and the first to collapse.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Francis Gribbon said most of the excavation site has been cleared except for the portion of the southeast corner, where the bodies were found.

"This is the last remaining area where we know significant numbers of people were," he said.

The Mayor's Office of Emergency Management said it would not confirm or comment on the find until a review by the city medical examiner.

The fire department lost 343 of its members in the September 11 terror attack. To date, 148 sets of remains have been found and identified.

Authorities estimate that 2,830 people died in the attack on the World Trade Center. Others perished when a third hijacked jet crashed in Pennsylvania and a fourth slammed into the Pentagon.

The excavation in lower Manhattan has proceeded much faster than expected in the six months since the attack.