343 NYC firefighters died on 9/11. Since then, 200 have died from Ground Zero-related illnesses

The 200th New York City firefighter has died from ailments stemming from working at the toxic World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, according to city officials.

Richard Driscoll, 73, died one day after the death of fellow firefighter Kevin Nolan.

Driscoll, who was cited for bravery five times during his firefighting career, rushed to Ground Zero and “worked tirelessly in the rescue and recovery efforts that followed,” the Fire Department of New York said.

"Rest in peace," New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio tweeted Thursday, referring to both men.

"They didn’t hesitate to run into danger," he wrote. "They stayed until the work was done."

Fire commissioner Daniel Nigro also noted the growing number of deaths related to the terror attack on the World Trade Center 18 years ago.

"It is almost incomprehensible that after losing 343 members on September 11, we have now had 200 more FDNY members die due to World Trade Center illness," Nigro said in a statement. "These heroes gave their lives bravely fighting to rescue and recover others. We will never forget them."

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention notes that thousands of responders and survivors of the 9/11 attack continue to suffer adverse health effects from toxic contaminants, risks of traumatic injury, and physically and emotionally stressful conditions.

"Symptoms of 9/11 conditions include chronic cough, shortness of breath, sinus congestion, certain cancers, stress related disorders, and depression among the many other symptoms and conditions," according to the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The latest deaths come as legislation remains stalled in Congress to extend the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund that provides financial help to victims of the attack in exchange for their agreement not to sue the airline corporations involved.

The bill, which would reauthorize funding until fiscal 2090, was blocked in the Senate this week by Republican Sens. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Mike Lee, of Utah. Paul said the bill should be paid for by cuts in other budget items.

The move prompted former late-night TV host Jon Stewart, a longtime champion of the bill, to call Paul's gesture "absolutely outrageous."

"You will pardon if I am not impressed in any way by Rand Paul's fiscal responsibility virtue-signaling," he told Fox News.

The senator replied, also on Fox, saying Stewart is "really not informed, and his name-calling just exposes him as part of the left-wing mob that isn't using his brain."

Meanwhile, authorities have identified the remains of another 9/11 victim found at the World Trade Center.

The New York City medical examiners’ office on Thursday said the woman is the 1,644th person to be linked to remains found at the site, nearly 18 years after hijackers crashed airplanes into the trade center’s twin towers in 2001.

The victim’s name, which is being withheld, was confirmed through DNA testing of remains recovered in 2002.

It’s the second new identification of a World Trade Center victim’s remains in 2019.

The medical examiner says about 40% of the 2,753 people who died have never been linked to identifiable remains.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NYFD mourns 200th firefighter death linked to 9/11-related illness