The US Federal Bureau of Intelligence will provide Bangladesh with the Combined DNA Index System (Codis) free of cost to identify bodies of Savar’s Rana Plaza fatalities.
The software programme will help establish the identities of 321 bodies of unidentified garment workers who died in the building collapse.
A source at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs said the FBI would also provide technical and vocational support to experts at the DNA Laboratory in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the software will be placed.
The US agency recently expressed its interest in voluntarily supporting the women and children affairs ministry’s “Violence against women” project.
National DNA Profiling Laboratory chief, Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, also professor of Biochemistry at Dhaka University, said the US had been very positive about giving the highly developed DNA software to Bangladesh.
Dr Sharif said a memorandum of understanding would be signed between the two countries very soon.
About 68 laboratories in 34 countries are use the Codis software, Dr Sharif said. The FBI had also provided Codis to Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, and now Bangladesh, the fourth country to get this free of cost.
Asked about the status of DNA tests for the casualties at Rana Plaza, the laboratory chief said DNA tests were being done in four phases and specialised software was necessary for this. He however did not say how long it would take to complete the tests.
About 550 people await the DNA test results.
DMCH DNA Laboratory officials are not sure how long it will take to get all the tests done.
The officials attributed the reasons for the delay to the lack of skilled personnel and most importantly, the essential Mass Fatality Identification System (MFIS) software.
They said normally it takes seven to eight days to prepare a DNA profile from blood, and a longer period from bones.
To match the DNA of a large number of unknown bodies will take years, said the officials.
On condition of anonymity, one of the laboratory officials said the DMCH DNA Laboratory had sent a proposal to the finance ministry for the allocation of funds to buy MFIS software, but the finance ministry rejected the proposal.
Tuesday 2 July 2013
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/jul/02/us-offers-help-dna-testing-rana-plaza-victims
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