DVI News 5 September 2011
06/Sep/2011
Body of Smolensk victim exhumed29 August 2011. Poland.
After inconsistencies were discovered between old Polish hospital records and the results of a Russian autopsy, the Polish miliary's prosecutor's office decided to exhume the body of the late Law and Justice MP Zbigniew Wassermann in Kraków on Monday morning.
Mr Wassermann died in the April 10, 2010 airplane crash in Smolensk, Russia, that killed a total of 96 people, including President Lech Kaczyński
http://www.wbj.pl/article-55818-body-of-smolensk-victim-exhumed.html?typ=ise
12 Bodies Found in Clandestine Graves in Northern Mexico
30 August 2011.
The bodies of 12 people, including a woman, were found in clandestine graves in Chihuahua, a state in northern Mexico, prosecutors said.
Investigators found the bodies of six men and a woman Monday in Guachochi, a city in the southern part of the state, which borders the United States, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office said.
The victims appear to have been tortured, the AG’s office said.
One of the victims was shot in the face and the rest were strangled to death.
http://laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14091&ArticleId=421054
Coroner’s Quake Inquest: Day 3
30 August 2011. New Zealand.
Families of earthquake victims today requested to see more details of their loved one's final moments, despite Coroner Gordon Matenga's warnings that the inquest appendices contained ''explicit details of injuries''.
About 40 people gathered at the inquest at Riccarton Racecourse.
Almost every family asked to see the inquest appendices, compiled during the disaster victim identification process, which would reveal previously unreleased details on how their loved ones died.
Others questioned the length of time it took to recover bodies from the PGC building. Some were not located until March 3.
Adrienne Isobel Lindsay: Located by USAR teams on February 22. Died from crush asphyxia, and severe injuries to the head, chest, spine and pelvis.
Ofer Binyamin Mizrahi, (Israeli tourist) 22: Body located inside the badly damaged vehicle on February 22. Died from head and limb injuries. Identity established through fingerprint analysis and physical description.
Christopher Patrick Smith was rescued alive from a vehicle by a fireman. Later died of chest injuries.
Identified by fingerprint and property analysis and physical description.
Owen Morris Wright died of a ruptured aorta, limb disruption and crush injuries suffered on a Port Hills track.
Found on the Major Hornbrook Track by Mark Anderson. Identified by his wife Megan.
Mariell Falardeau (Canadian tourist) 60: Her body was found under rubble outside the Colombo Souvenirs store on February 22. Died from crush asphyxia and severe injuries to her head and arms. Identified by fingerprint and property comparisons.
John Barry Craig found by police on March 3. Died from crush injuries to the chest and asphyxia. Identity established through dental and property comparisons and physical descriptions.
Melanie Jane Brown, 56, was found on February 23. Died from chest and pelvic injuries. Identified through fingerprint and property comparisons and physical descriptions.
Carey Stuart Bird, 48. Found alive and conscious by a member of the public, pinned against rubble and remained trapped. Died at the site from his injuries. Body recovered on February 24. Died from massive crush injuries. Identified through DNA, dental and property descriptions.
Catherine McNicol Lunney, 62. Body recovered on February 24. Died from severe trauma to her body. Identified by fingerprints, property comparisons and physical descriptions.
Amanda Jane Hooper, 30. Body was found on March 2. Died from multiple injuries. Identified through dental, property comparisons, and physical descriptions.
Patrick John Coupe,46. body was recovered on March 2. Died from severe crush injuries of the head and torso. Identified through fingerprint and property comparisons.
Jane-Marie Albert, 44. Body was located on March 2. Died from severe multiple crush injuries. Identify established through fingerprints, property comparisons and physical description.
Julie Kathryn Wong, 37. body was recovered on March 3. Died from multiple crush injuries. Identified through fingerprints, property comparisons and physical description.
Michael Styant. Body was found on February 28. Died from crush injuries to the head and chest. Identified through fingerprints, property comparisons and physical description.
Emma Shaharudin, 35. Body recovered on February 25 by a New South Wales USAR team. Died of traumatic asphyxia. Identified through fingerprints, property comparisons and physical descriptions.
John Joseph O’Connor, 40. Body found on March 2. Died from head and chest injuries. Identity established through fingerprints, property comparisons and physical description.
Blair James O'Connor, 34. Body located February 26. Died from crush asphyxia. Identity established through dental comparisons and physical description.
Adrienne Meredith. Body found by the British USAR team on February 26. Died from traumatic asphyxia. Identified by fingerprints, property comparisons, and physical descriptions.
Adam Stephen Fisher, 27. Body recovered on February 26 by a British USAR team. Died from massive crush injuries to the head, torso and limbs. Identity confirmed through fingerprint and property comparisons.
Kelly Lyn Maynard, 43. Body was found during a search on March 1. Died from massive crush injuries to her torso and limbs. Identified through dental, property comparisons and physical descriptions.
Estelle Marie Cullen, 32. Body found on March 1. Died from massive crush injuries to torso and limbs. Identity established by fingerprint and property comparisons.
Helen Margaret Chambers. Body recovered by NSW USAR team on February 24 Died from crush asphyxia. Identified through property, dental, and physical description. Her husband asked the coroner's inquest for his wife's jewellery back.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5538983/Coroners-quake-victims-inquest-day-three
Coroner’s Quake Inquest: Day 4
31 August 2011. New Zealand.
Jillian Lesley Murphy was trapped under the rubble of falling buildings at 89a Cashel St and died at the scene.
Christopher Grant Homan was trapped by his legs under the rubble of falling facades in Cashel St. Died of massive blood loss and crush injuries.
Linda Isobel Arnold. Died in her car of head and chest injuries.
Lucy Routledge, 74. Buried in the number three bus under debris from fallen Colombo St buildings. Died of multiple injuries
Joseph Stuart Routledge. 74. Buried in the number three bus under debris from fallen Colombo St buildings. Died of multiple injuries
Earl Nicholas Stick. Buried in the number three bus under debris from fallen Colombo St buildings. Died of multiple injuries.
Beverley May Stick. Buried in the number three bus under debris from fallen Colombo St buildings. Died of multiple injuries.
Philip Graeme Reeve Coppeard. (U.K). Found on February 23 in the remains of the bus in Colombo St. Died from multiple injuries.
Rachel Elizabeth Conley (USA). Trapped underneath heavy slab in Colombo Street. Died of her injuries that same day.
Matthew Stuart McEachen. Located beneath rubble in Colombo Street on February 23. Died from a severe head injury
Normand Lee. Located among rubble of collapsed buildings on February 22. Died at scene from massive crush injuries to head and torso.
Ofer Levy, 22, (Israel) located under rubble in Colombo Street on February 23.
Gabi Moshe Ingel (Israel) located under rubble in Colombo Street on February 23.
Joan Dorothy Weild. Recovered from rubble of a collapsed building on February 22. Died from crush injuries
Graham Weild. Recovered from rubble of a collapsed building on February 23. Died from crush injuries
Jennifer Ann Donaldson. Found on February 23 beneath a collapsed building in Colombo Street. Died of massive crush injuries
Lisa Patricia Willems. Pulled alive from her car which was buried under rubble on February 22. Died at scene from major injuries, including a fracture of the pelvis and chest injuries.
Owen Thomas McKenna. Died in his vehicle on February 22 buried under rubble of a building. Construction workers, police officers and members of the public attempted to rescue him but McKenna died of his injuries.
Taneysha Gail Rose Prattley (5 weeks). Body recovered by USAR on February 26 from under rubble of the Ruben Blades Hairdressing Academy building. Died from multiple skull fractures. Died along with her mother.
Kelsey Sinitta Moore. Body recovered by USAR on February 26 from under rubble of the Ruben Blades Hairdressing Academy building. Died from head, spine and limb injuries.
Gregory James Tobin, 25. (U.K). Struck and buried by falling masonry. Died instantly of extensive cranial vault fractures. Relative asked coroner why they had to take USAR to the scene where Tobin was last seen by colleagues being struck by falling masonry. NSW USAR found body at this location.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5546286/Coroners-quake-victims-inquest-day-four
Remains Found at Gang Crematorium in Mexico
31 August 2011.
Police found what appear to be the remains of six men at a site in this northern Mexican metropolis where a criminal organization burned victims’ bodies, authorities said.
The discovery stemmed from the investigation of last week’s arson attack at a Monterrey casino, which claimed 52 lives.
Five suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel arrested for starting the blaze at the Casino Royale revealed the existence of the clandestine crematorium.
http://laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14091&ArticleId=421240
Another human foot washes up in British Columbia
31 August 2011.
Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, say a human foot inside a running shoe has washed ashore, the latest in roughly a dozen such cases since 2007.
Most of the remains are unidentified, although investigators said at least two of the feet belong to men who were reported missing
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/31/501364/main20099730.shtml
EU and Belgium to help Libya
1 September 2011.
Catherine Ashton, responsible for EU foreign policy, has stated that the EU is prepared to assist the new Libyan authorities in the reconstruction.
Should it prove necessary, a Belgium team DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) team will deploy to help identify the many civilian casualties.
http://knack.rnews.be/nl/actualiteit/nieuws/buitenland/eu-en-belgie-helpen-libie/article-1195094092728.htm
If they are looking for volunteers I’ll put my hand up for when things stabilise over there.
Changed by 9/11: Dr. Henry Dondero, Forensic Dentist
1 September 2011. USA.
In March of 2001, Dr. Henry Dondero took a week-long continuing education course in forensic dentistry at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Maryland.
He had no idea he'd be using those skills six months later to identify victims of the World Trade Center tragedy as one of 25 tour commanders for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Dondero worked with the 9/11 dental ID team until it closed in June 2002. Together they had identified more than 600 victims.
Dondero said some of the emotions were perplexing.
"When we would make an identification it was almost joyous in a way because we found somebody," he said. "In wretched conditions we could give someone peace."
http://farmingdale.patch.com/articles/changed-by-911-dr-henry-dondero
Quake ID Process ‘Should be Streamlined’
2 September 2011.
A Wellington-based movie costume designer who enlisted the Prime Minister to help find her twin sister after the Christchurch earthquake has hit out at delays in being told of her fate.
Amanda Neale, the identical twin of quake victim Melissa Neale, waited 11 days not knowing whether her sister was buried under the rubble of the City Mall or in a makeshift morgue.
Neale told the inquiry the disaster victim identification (DVI) process must be streamlined.
Neale said there needed to be better communications between the emergency services and other agencies when identifying victims.
"Everyone seemed to have a different portfolio," she said. "It could be a lot more fluid, and people could be informed."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5551578/Quake-ID-process-should-be-streamlined
We should use the bricks (criticism) thrown at the DVI processes to strengthen the foundation on which DVI is built. It is very easy to avoid criticism - simply do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. All considered I think the NZ DVI operation should be commended for what was achieved.
UN Blast: Doctors Seek Good Forensic System
2 September 2011. Nigeria.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has called on the federal government to install a good forensic system so as to be able to identify people easily so that they will not be kept for too long on cases under investigation.
Speaking to journalists during an on-the-spot tour of the bomb blast victims at the National Hospital, Abuja yesterday, the president of the association, Dr Omede Idris, decried the sorry state of the corpses from the Friday’s UN bomb blast
He said, “I went through the morgue; bodies are there, but post mortem has not been done; identification has not been done.”
According to him, forensic identification was a national thing and way beyond the scope of the National Hospital and called on the federal government to plunge into it headlong in order to ensure that those things were in place so that issues that have to do with forensic could be easily addressed for both the living and the dead
http://leadership.ng/nga/articles/4655/2011/09/02/un_blast_doctors_seek_good_forensic_system.html
21 Killed - Four Bodies Recovered After Chile Plane Crash
3 September 2011.
The number of bodies recovered after a Chilean air force plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean with 21 people on board has risen to four.
The aircraft crashed shortly before 6:00 p.m. Friday after two unsuccessful attempts to land in adverse conditions on Robinson Crusoe Island.
http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=422173&CategoryId=14094
Six students drowned in Red River
3 September 2011. Vietnam.
Six 6th graders of the Trang Viet Secondary High School in Hanoi’s Me Linh District drowned Friday when their boat capsized in the Hong (Red) River.
The bodies of six students, all aged 12, were recovered later on Friday.
http://www.thanhniennews.com/2010/Pages/20110903132228.aspx
‘Mina’ Death Toll Hits 22
4 September 2011. Philippines.
The death toll from typhoon “Mina” has climbed to 22 with 12 others still missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday.
Of the missing, five were fishermen from Pangasinan whose fishing boat disappeared in rough seas off the coast of Zambales.
A vast rubbish dump in Baguio City which collapsed during typhoon Mina will be relocated, authorities said yesterday.
The collapse of the Irisan open dump left five persons dead, bringing to 11 the number of fatalities in the Cordillera region, while five others went missing after they were swept away by rampaging waters.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=722216&publicationSubCategoryId=63
Six killed, 22 injured in dairy explosion
4 September 2011. India.
Six people were killed and 22 others received serious burn injuries when a huge explosion took place in the Dudhsagar Dairy at Mehsana on Saturday at 1.30pm. The blast resulted in a huge fire and caused massive damage to the milk processing unit.
Authorities fear that death toll may go up as many of the victims have received serious burn injuries and there may be people trapped in the rubble.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Six-killed-22-injured-in-dairy-explosion/articleshow/9855973.cms
20 dead, 55 missing in Talas' wake – Death toll expected to rise in Japan
5 September 2011. Japan.
A powerful typhoon that hit the Kinki and Shikoku regions passed into the Sea of Japan Sunday after leaving at least 20 people dead and 55 missing in six prefectures.
The dead included 12 in Wakayama Prefecture and three more in Nara Prefecture.
The figures could rise when rescue efforts — disrupted by damaged roads and other factors in some typhoon-hit areas, mainly in the Kii Peninsula of Wakayama Prefecture — resume, local authorities said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110905a1.html
(Tags: vi)