DVI News 16 January 2012
18/Jan/2012
Body parts stolen from Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner's office6 January 2012. USA.
The Oneida County medical examiner allegedly stole body parts from the Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to county law enforcement officials.
Sheriff Mick Fink confirmed Friday that his office is working in conjunction with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation of Traci J. England, 44, of Rhinelander.
England was arrested Wednesday after she allegedly kept a human body part from an autopsy to use in training a dog, Oneida County District Attorney Michael Bloom said Thursday.
England attended an autopsy Tuesday in Fond du Lac and kept part of the deceased person’s spine, Bloom said after England’s bond hearing Thursday in Oneida County Circuit Court.
England told police that she intended to use the human remains to train one of her dogs to search for human remains, Bloom said.
England was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday morning, and a deputy medical examiner will be appointed in the near future to fill her position in the interim, Oneida County Human Resources Director Lisa Charbarneau said.
http://www.fdlreporter.com/
Four dead in Lancashire house fire
8 January 2012. England.
A man and three children have died after a house fire in Freckleton, Lancashire.
The fire broke out at the detached house in Lytham Road, Freckleton, Lancashire at 11.30pm yesterday.
The four victims were taken to Preston Royal Infirmary but were all later pronounced dead.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Balloon tragedy victims named
8 January 2012. NZ.
Police have named the victims of the Carterton balloon tragedy. All victims are from the Wellington and Wairarapa regions.
Wairarapa Area Commander Inspector Brent Register says Police wish to extend their heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased.
"Yesterday's fatal crash is not only a tragedy for the people of Carterton and the wider Wairarapa community, but for the whole of New Zealand, who are also mourning the loss of these victims. We will continue to support the families of the deceased as they begin to deal with their grief."
Rain is hampering the work of forensic investigators at the Carterton site where 11 people perished in a hot air balloon tragedy yesterday morning.
Police and forensic specialists are continuing the investigation into yesterday's balloon crash, but warn it will take some time to complete.
The tragedy occurred when a hot air balloon on a scenic flight struck powerlines, causing the craft to burst into flame and fall to the ground. The five couples on board and the pilot Lance Hopping were all killed.
Wairarapa Area Commander Inspector Brent Register.
The debris was spread over an area of 50m and was being forensically mapped.
The weather is an issue for the team, working in conditions where a heavy rain warning is in place until 9pm tonight, Mr Register said.
He said the DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) process to formally identify victims could take several days.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/
Photos from fatal day released - Victims pose ahead of the balloon flight
9 January 2012. New Zealand.
Families of the eleven people killed in Saturday's balloon crash have released photographs of their loved ones.
Eleven people died after a hot-air balloon crashed on a farm near Carterton on Saturday, January 7.
Family members were today shown photographs taken by Geoff Walker, who tracked the doomed flight from the start right up to when the balloon erupted into flames, near the planned end of its flight.
The families have released several images of the victims, including three -- of Wellington couple, Chrisjan Jordaan and Alexis Still, Masterton couple Des and Ann Dean, and Valerie Bennett, also of Masterton -- taken in front of a hot air balloon on the day of the flight.
The images show the young couple and the Deans smiling and hugging as the pose in front of a partially inflated hot air balloon.
Mr Walker has for four years taken photos for balloon pilot Lance Hopping, recording the special day of hundreds of his clients.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/
Two of the eleven victims in fatal balloon crash returned to their families
10 January 2012. New Zealand.
Two of the eleven victims in Saturday's fatal Carterton hot air balloon crash have been returned to their families, after being formally identified at a hearing before Coroner Peter Ryan in Wellington today.
They were 21 year old Johannes JORDAAN, known as Chrisjan, aged 21 of Wellington and girlfriend Alexis STILL, aged 19, also of Wellington.
http://www.police.govt.nz/
4 killed, 1 sent to hospital after plane crash in northwestern Ontario
10 January 2012. Canada.
A plane crash killed several people in northwestern Ontario in the North Spirit Lake area Tuesday morning.
Five people, including the pilot, were on board.
Officials in the community said four died in the crash while a fifth person survived.
The Keystone Air plane flew out of Winnipeg around 7 a.m. and crashed around 10 a.m. on Jan. 10.
http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/
Death Toll Rises to 11 in Brazil Mudslide
10 January 2012
Three more bodies were recovered in Sapucaia, raising the death toll from the mudslide that hit several houses in the Brazilian city to 11, with at least 10 people still listed as missing, officials said.
Torrential rains caused mudslides early Monday on two hills in Sapucaia, located in Rio de Janeiro state, that buried eight dwellings while their occupants slept.
Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of nine adults and two children, fire department spokesmen in Sapucaia, which is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the city of Rio de Janeiro, said.
http://laht.com/article.asp?
Further victim of Carterton hot air balloon crash formally identified
11 January 2012. New Zealand.
A further victim of Saturday's fatal Carterton hot air balloon crash has been formally identified at a hearing before Coroner Peter Ryan in Wellington late this afternoon.
He was hot air balloon pilot Lance HOPPING, aged 53 of Carterton.
http://www.police.govt.nz/
Mass grave found in South Darfur
11 January 2012.
Authorities have uncovered a mass grave with more than 30 bodies in Al Sunta locality in South Darfur.
The governor Bushara Al Jazam has been accused of using the grave to bury the bodies of people that have mysteriously disappeared over the years.
Citizens were becoming suspicious after citizens went missing and began to demonstrate to demand to know what was happening in the area.
On 4 January 2012, residents were taken to the site to dig up the grave to look for missing person Ibrahim Sinin, but found a further 30 bodies buried in a mass grave.
Authorities in Nyala sent a fact finding team to investigate.
After the investigation, the governor was promptly arrested
A team of doctors has been tasked to help to try to identify the bodies, which were now composed mainly of skeletons.
http://www.radiodabanga.org/
Kids Among 8 Hacked to Death in Honduras
11 January 2012.
Eight people, four of them children, were murdered in the Caribbean province of Colon, the Honduran government said.
The victims, residents of the village of El Regadero, were hacked to death by four men who arrived at the scene in a single vehicle.
Security Ministry spokesman Hector Ivan Mejia identified the victims only as two men, two women and four children, citing a preliminary report from police.
http://laht.com/article.asp?
Pilot farewelled as identification process continues
13 January 2012. New Zealand.
Hot balloon pilot Lance Hopping packed a lot into his 53 years, including meeting his father late in life.
Mr Hopping was at the helm of the balloon that crashed near Carterton on Saturday killing all 11 on board.
His funeral was held on Monday in Carterton.
Meanwhile, officers identifying the bodies of the victims have undergone compulsory sessions with a police psychologist.
Inspector Brent Register said about 18 officers from Wairarapa and around the Wellington police district had been involved in the disaster victim identification (DVI) process.
That process continues at Wellington mortuary, while the police family liaison unit will continue to deliver news of positive identification to the families of unidentified victims.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/
More dead bodies recovered in Misamis Occ shores
13 January 2012. Philippines.
At least six (6) more dead human bodies in advanced stages of decomposition were recovered from the shores of Misamis Occidental while nine (9) others in the same condition were recovered from the shores of Zamboanga del Norte, days after the onslaught of Typhoon Sendong.
This brings up to 1,388 the number of accounted dead bodies who were believed victims of ‘Sendong,’ of which only 837 were identified.
Data also show that 737 of the dead bodies were from Cagayan de Oro City, 693 were from Iligan City and 45 were from Bukidnon.
As of Jan. 5, the DVI Team has taken a total of 243 specimens for DNA testing, gathered 214 specimens for ante mortem data and processed and buried 200 unidentified bodies. http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=
Prosecutor says 40 passengers of sunken ship still missing
14 January 2012. Italy.
Grosseto prosecutor Linardi said about 40 passengers of the sunken Costa Concordia cruise ship are still missing. "After cross-checking the lists of passengers provided by the company against those in our possession, we can say that, at this stage, about 40 people are still missing", prosecutor Giuseppe Linardi said. "Our offices have been working for hours and will keep working during the night, partly because cross-checking information about the people rescued and identified against records of the passengers who have not yet been identified is an extremely delicate procedure", he explained
http://www.agi.it/flash-news/
4 of family charred to death in Kishtwar village
14 January 2012. Kashmir.
Four members of a family were charred to death and 10 houses completed gutted in a devastating fire incident at remote Kadailorligu village in Paddar belt of Kishtwar district last night.
The dead have been identified as Chamail Singh, his wife Sunita Devi, four-year old son Mahendar Singh and six-year old daughter Sharmali. His other daughter Urmila Devi sustained grievous burn injuries in the incident.
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/
15 killed as bus falls into gorge
14 January 2012. India.
The toll in Thursday's bus accident near Kupvi in Chopal area of this district reached 15 on Friday with six more people succumbing to injuries. Nine persons had died on the spot, three died on way to hospital while three others succumbed to injuries in hospitals.
The victims, whose bodies have been handed over to the relatives after post-mortem included a woman, the official added.
http://timesofindia.
Family found dead in submerged car
14 January 2012. Cambodia.
Cambodian police found five bodies in a car owned by a Frenchman who has been missing along with his four children.
The gruesome discovery was made after the vehicle owned by widower Laurent Vallier, 42, was retrieved from a pond on his property in the southern province of Kampong Speu, said Chhay Sinarith, director of the interior ministry's internal security department.
"After removing the car from the pond, we found the remains of five people. We conclude that they are those of the missing French family," he said.
"The bones of two kids were put in a suitcase that was also in the car," he said, adding that police were still investigating the cause of death for all five victims.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/
Dead in Italian Ship Identified as Two French, One Peruvian
15 January 2012. Italy.
The Friday the 13th grounding of the Concordia was one of the most dramatic cruise ship accidents in recent memory.
France said two of the victims were Frenchmen; a Peruvian diplomat identified the third victim as Tomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, 42, a crewman from Peru. Some 30 people were injured, at least two seriously.
http://www.globalnews.ca/
Thousands rescued, 41 still missing from cruise ship Costa Concordia near Italy
15 January 2012. Italy.
THE captain of a luxury cruise liner that keeled over off Tuscany, killing three people and leaving 41 unaccounted for, has been arrested.
Coastguards meanwhile said divers had recovered the ship's "black box" which should contain records of the precise route and conversations among the crew. The search for survivors was called off for the night late on Saturday.
But 41 people who had been on board were still missing, said Grosseto governor Giuseppe Linardi and port officials, although it was not clear whether they had made their own way to safety without checking in with authorities.
http://www.theaustralian.com.
Freight vessel explosion in West Sea kills 3
15 January 2012. South Korea.
A freight ship carrying oil exploded in waters off the port city of Incheon Sunday morning, killing three crew members and causing eight others to go missing.
The Coast Guard has dispatched patrol and rescue ships to search for the missing crew.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/
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