DVI News 13 February 2012
16/Feb/2012
Rescuers find dead, not survivors, in rubble after 6.9 quake shakes Philippines, causes slides6 February 2012.
Rescuers digging for survivors among dozens of people buried by earthquake-triggered landslides on a central Philippine island have found only bodies. The death toll climbed to 15 on Tuesday, and at least 73 people were still missing.
Most of the confirmed deaths were in Planas village, a part of Guihulngan town where some 30 houses were buried under concrete debris.
Guihulngan Mayor Ernesto Reyes said crews were using backhoes to try to rescue people, but he added that at the rate deaths were being reported, the town may run out of coffins
http://www.newser.com/article/
Somebody's daughter
6 February 2012. Australia.
Baffled NSW police have turned to an expert in facial technology to identify remains found in Belanglo in 2010.
NSW detectives have tried every avenue at their disposal to establish the victim's identity. All they have to go on is the frustrating age range based on dental x-rays - a female between 13 and 25years - and the even more frustrating length of time the body may have been in the area - anywhere between six months and 10years.
There are no matches for her DNA, and while an examination of her teeth indicates that, like most people in Australia, she has had some ''Western-style'' dental work done, there have been no matches to any dental records, here or overseas.
For the first time in the history of NSW forensics, detectives have decided to try facial approximation technology to determine what she looked like.
Last year Dr Susan Hayes, a facial anthropologist based in Perth, arrived at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Glebe Morgue in Sydney.
After an extensive examination of the skull and hair, she produced a 12-page report and an image - an approximation - of what the female may have looked like.
http://www.canberratimes.com.
10 Zimbabweans die in horror crash inside South Africa
7 February 2012.
Ten people believed to be Zimbabweans died on Tuesday morning after a horrific crash involving a Kombi and a truck in Limpopo, South Africa. 16 others were left injured.
Police said the Kombi was travelling from Pretoria to Zimbabwe while the truck, which crossed the border from Zimbabwe, was headed towards Polokwane. The crash happened along the busy N1 highway near Bandelierkop outside Makhado, according to police spokesperson, Maano Sadiki.
Eight of those who died were men, while one woman and one young boy also died
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.
26 killed in Uttar Pradesh road accident
8 February 2012.
At least 26 people from a marriage party were killed on Tuesday evening when an overloaded mini-bus collided head-on with a speeding truck in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district, 120 km from Agra, police said on Wednesday. The driver of the mini-bus also died and more than a dozen others were injured. Police have identified 23 bodies.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
Mexican Navy Recovers 15 Bodies From Mass Graves
8 February 2012.
A suspected member of the Zetas drug cartel led Mexican authorities to mass graves at two ranches in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz where marines unearthed 15 bodies by Wednesday.
Mexican authorities have found hundreds of bodies dumped by drug gangs in mass graves in recent years, mainly in the northern states of Durango and Tamaulipas.
http://abcnews.go.com/
Bringing kin together
9 February 2012. Israel.
Recent times in Israel have witnessed an alarming growth in inter-communal tensions within Jewish society.
But one organization, the ZAKA rescue and recovery organization, seeks to soothe societal wounds through a coming together not only of the many ultra-Orthodox volunteers in its ranks but of secular, Zionist and other religious people to bridge current divides One of the foundation stones of the organization, ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi- Zahav explains, is the value of volunteerism. The acronym of the organization, he says, stands both for Disaster Victim Identification (in Hebrew) as well as for “zeh kiruv achim,” literally, “this is the bringing together of kin.”
ZAKA ITSELF began through Meshi-Zahav’s desire to help and serve. As a yeshiva student in 1989, he and his fellow students helped gather the remains of the 16 people killed in the terrorist attack on the No. 405 bus. In 1995, he set up the organization as a network of haredi men to give back to society and provide a service that was not being addressed
Full article at: http://www.jpost.com/Features/
Inside INTERPOL's New Cybercrime Innovation Center
9 February 2012. Singapore.
INTERPOL, the international policing organization, is building a law enforcement tech geek heaven in Singapore.
Apart from developing tools to fight pirates and malware developers, the Singapore facility will also feature a high-tech forensics workshop for disaster victim identification. Following natural or man-made disasters, INTERPOL researchers will use the lab to provide on-call assistance for local police and first responders.
http://www.fastcompany.com/
Fiery crash in British Columbia Interior kills 5
9 February 2012. Canada.
Five people are dead after a horrific head-on crash Thursday in the B.C. Interior.
The five victims were travelling in an SUV that crossed the centre line of Highway 97 into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer, said Cpl. Madonna Saunders of the Prince George RCMP.
A coroner was on the scene but left, being able to determine that the five were dead because the fire damage was so great.
http://www.montrealgazette.
47 Bodies Recovered from Shipwreck in Dominican Republic
9 February 2012.
A total of 47 bodies have now been recovered during the search and rescue operation following the sinking last weekend of a small boat carrying migrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
Search teams found 22 bodies on Wednesday, navy eastern region commander Col. Hector Ramon Mendez said by telephone.
Emergency management office personnel and firefighters are also participating in the search in the Bay of Samana, located in the northeastern Dominican Republic, the navy commander said.
The small boat, which was carrying more than 70 illegal immigrants bound for Puerto Rico, sank early Saturday.
Six bodies in an advanced state of decomposition were found on the coast Wednesday and taken to Sabana de la Mar.
Twelve more bodies were found later in the day by searchers, officials said.
http://laht.com/article.asp?
20 killed in Jammu accident
10 February 2012. Kashmir.
At least 20 people were killed when a mini bus in which they were travelling fell from a hilly road into the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday morning, police said.
"We have recovered 20 bodies," said Muneesh Kumar Sinha, deputy inspector general of police of Doda range. "But we are still engaged in searches."
http://www.ndtv.com/article/
Death Toll from Dominican Shipwreck Climbs to 51
10 February. 2012. Dominican Republic.
Another four bodies have been recovered following last weekend’s sinking of a small boat carrying people trying to migrate illegally from the Dominican Republic to the Puerto Rico, lifting the death toll to 51, officials said.
“At the conclusion of (Thursday’s) search, we removed from the sea the bodies of four men who still have not been identified,” Dominican navy eastern region commander Col. Hector Ramon Mendez told Efe by telephone.
The boat carrying more than 70 illegal immigrants bound for the U.S. commonwealth sank early Saturday in Samana Bay, off the coast of the northeastern Dominican province of Maria Trinidad Sanchez.
http://laht.com/article.asp?
At least 14 killed as bus plunges into ravine
11 February 2012. Indonesia.
Rescue workers had to use flashlights on Friday evening to recover bodies of at least 13 passengers and a meatball seller from a bus that had plunged into a ravine in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java.
The Kurnia Bhakti bus was reportedly standing in an almost vertical condition, that pushed down the bodies, adding difficulties to rescue workers’ efforts who had to work with limited lighting.
“At least 14 people were killed [as of 10 p.m.] while 40 others were injured,” said Jasa Raharga Bogor office head, Yahya Zulami, late Friday, as quoted.
He added that 11 of the victims had been identified.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/
Four Tajiks killed in Afghan helicopter crash
12 February 2012.
Four Tajiks were killed when a civilian helicopter contracted to carry supplies to foreign forces crashed in southern Afghanistan due to technical problems, officials said Sunday.
Six US troops were killed in a helicopter crash in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan last month
http://news.asiaone.com/News/
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