DVI News 28 February 2011
27/Feb/2011
Police working hard on identification27 February 2011
The number of confirmed deaths is now 146. We expect that number to increase further. We are very close to being able to release further names.
We are working as hard as we can to complete identification and be able to release the bodies of victims to their loved ones.
We understand the trauma the families are going through. It's important to understand that the severity of this disaster means some victims suffered horrendous injuries and identification is very difficult.
We continue to believe there are more than 200 missing in the worst-damaged sites in the city.
We have a total of 166 disaster victim identification trained staff working on shifts. They are very well led and they are working as hard as they can. This includes on both the post mortem phase and the antemortem phase where we sit down with the families to gather as much information as we can to correctly identify people. We have another DVI team arriving from Thailand today and the United Kingdom on Monday.
http://www.police.govt.nz/
Specialists to identify quake dead
27 February 2011. UK.
A British taskforce of disaster victim identification (DVI) experts is due to arrive in New Zealand on Monday to help identify the victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
With the death toll standing at 146, officials have only been able to name six of the dead due to the extent of the injuries sustained during the magnitude-6.3 disaster.
Two Britons are confirmed to be among the victims, with the number expected to rise in the coming days.
http://www.google.com/
Some Christchurch quake victims may never be identified, police warn
27 February 2011.
RELATIVES of people missing and presumed dead beneath the rubble of Christchurch's CTV building have been told to brace themselves for the possibility that not all victims will be identified.
It is feared that more than 100 people, including dozens of staff and students from the King's Education foreign language school, are entombed within the collapsed building, which was set ablaze in the immediate aftermath of last Tuesday's destructive quake.
The warning came as the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 147, with over 50 "unaccounted for", and as grieving New Zealanders today held church services for victims of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which flattened large parts of historic Christchurch.
An army of 166 disaster victim identification experts are currently deployed throughout Christchurch. Further teams of DVI specialists are being flown in from Thailand today and the United Kingdom tomorrow.
http://www.theaustralian.com.
30 Teachers killed in Nan bus crash
21 February 2011. Thailand.
A bus carrying about 30 teachers and family members crashed in Nan province on Monday morning, causing at least 16 deaths.
Pol Lt Col Kiatthiyot said there may be more bodies trapped in the wreckage of the bus.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
Ten children killed in Estonian orphanage fire
21 February 2011.
TEN children were killed today when fire ripped through an orphanage for disabled youngsters in Estonia's western coastal resort of Haapsalu.
The building was home to about 40 disabled children and employed a staff of 37, Estonian Public Broadcasting reported
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/
Turkey mass graves yield 1,469 human remains
24 February 2011.
Researchers of the Turkish Medical Association have found 1,469 human remains in 114 mass graves uncovered in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern region.
The association announced the findings on Monday as it called for excavations using archeological techniques and the participation of forensic experts to collect and evaluate biological evidence in mass graves. The mass graves were found in city centers, roadsides, waste dumps and rural areas.
http://www.allheadlinenews.
1 killed, 4 missing in chopper crash
24 February 2011. Korea.
One maritime police officer was killed and four others were missing off Jeju Island after a maritime police helicopter crashed into the sea Wednesday night.
The police have mobilized a search plane, eight patrol vessels and two Navy vessels to collect the remains of the chopper and the bodies of the missing passengers.
http://www.koreaherald.com/
More than 50 Somali refugees drown when boat capsizes in Gulf of Aden
24 February 2011.
UNHCR on Thursday said it was "horrified," following reports that more than 50 Somali refugees are believed to have drowned at the weekend when their boat capsized while crossing the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
Fifty-four of the dead or missing were Somali refugees, including six children, while the remaining three were smugglers, UNHCR said in a press release. It added that the incident occurred on Sunday and there was just one male survivor.
http://www.unhcr.org/
Five killed in bus crash in north-western Turkey
25 February 2011.
Five passengers, four of them Greek citizens, were killed and five others were seriously injured Friday when a bus from Athens, Greece overturned in Turkey's northwestern province of Tekirdađ.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.
19 Dead in Bus Accident in Peru
25 February 2011.
Nineteen people were killed and 37 others injured Friday when a bus plunged into a ravine in central Peru. The bus ran off the road and fell 180 metres into a ravine.
Rescue efforts continue at the accident site and the death toll could climb, police said
http://www.laht.com/article.
(Tags: dvi)