Interpol in Indonesia to assist identification of QZ8501 victims

Interpol on Wednesday (Jan 14) visited AirAsia's Crisis Centre in Surabaya, East Java, to support the multi-national Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team that has been tasked to identify the bodies of flight QZ8501, and to ensure all procedures follow internationally recognised DVI standards.

Two Interpol officials have met the East Java Police Chief and the Head of the East Java DVI unit in Surabaya.

Interpol's DVI official Simon Djirovski was delighted that DVI teams from five countries have worked together with Indonesia to identify the bodies and that all DVI procedures have followed international standards.

He pointed out the difficulty in search and recovery operations at sea and said families needed to be aware of the bitter reality. "Normally the people are aware about it. This is specific disaster is a very bad disaster. With the situation like this, there is absolutely no possibility that all bodies will be recovered,” said Djidrovski.

Djidrovski said that Search and Rescue teams were doing their best to find as many bodies as possible and added that Indonesia has gone a long way in developing its Disaster Victim Identification Unit.

Interpol's DVI community consists of 190 countries including Indonesia. Indonesia will become a member of Interpol's steering committee next month, along with 29 other countries.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/interpol-in-indonesia-to/1590710.html

continue reading

India: Legislative sanction required for DNA data bank of unidentified bodies

The Centre has told Supreme Court that "legislative sanction" is required for establishment of a DNA profiles data bank which will help to identify the dead bodies which are unidentified.

Filing an affidavit in response to a PIL, Union Science and Technology ministry said the draft Human DNA Profiling Bill is ready and the same is likely to be introduced in the budget session.

The government said an expert committee was set up to look into various issues including privacy concerns. After threadbare discussion by the members, the committee has recommended for creation of DNA data bank while opined that the issues can be addressed after the enactment of law.

"The DNA Profiling Bill will provide legislative sanction for the government to formulate, approve and implement the rules and regulations for creation, maintenance and operation of the DNA data bank. The protocols for DNA profiling by the government would ensure appropriate use of biological samples and develop infrastructure as well as protocols across all states in the country for recording details of unidentified deceased individuals, collection storage and transport of biological samples to the laboratory of DNA analysis...."

"The effective operationlisation of DNA profiling activities need necessary statutory backing in the shape of provisions of a Parliament enacted law and regulations which would be framed by DNA Profiling Board once the bill is enacted," the government said.

According to the affidavit, after the recommendation of the experts committee, the draft bill was modified and comments were received from various ministries and also from different departments. Now the revised draft bill be submitted in the budget session of Parliament after the union cabinet's approval.

Earlier, the government had cited privacy concerns, lack of experts and handful laboratories as the prime reasons for not being able to push the Bill.

The apex court had in July last year had asked the Centre to create a DNA data bank on a plea by NGO Lokniti Foundation that establishment of identity was an essential feature of individual dignity and the government must resort to modern scientific methods.

The government stated that there was requirement of large number of trained personnel and adequate number of scientific laboratories with technicians.

The country has only 30 to 40 DNA experts against an estimated requirement of around 800 technical examiners for its 1,200 million population. And, each test costs Rs 20,000 and the estimated cost of identifying 40,000 bodies would be Rs 80crore every year, in addition to the remuneration of the examiners and support staff.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-centre-says-its-needs-legislative-sanction-to-dna-data-bank-2052323

continue reading

Ten dead as Texas prison bus collides with train

At least 10 people have been killed after a bus carrying prisoners lost control on an icy motorway and collided with a train in Texas, officials say.

Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson said the bus careened off an Interstate 20 overpass and landed on train tracks west of Odessa. A freight train then struck the bus, he said.

The bus was traveling from the Middleton Unit in Abilene to the Sanchez Unit in El Paso when it was involved in the accident at about 7:30 a.m., state prison officials said.

Two correctional officers and eight inmates died in the crash, according to state officials, and one staff member and four other inmates were taken to the Medical Center in Odessa where a spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times that four were critical and one was in serious condition.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.

Images from the scene showed that the white prison bus, crumpled with heavy damage to its top and undercarriage, came to rest on its side.

“It's with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of those killed and injured this morning in a tragic accident,” said Brad Livingston, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “Their loved ones will be in our thoughts and prayers.”

The Union Pacific freight train was traveling from Los Angeles to Marion, Ark., with 58 cars and four locomotives, Mark Davis, a railroad spokesman told The Times.

Two employees on the freight train were uninjured, he said.

Carrying parcels and packages, the train remained at the accident site while the investigation was being carried out.

The railroad will be sending people to inspect the damage and the track, according to Davis.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30821835

continue reading

Sindh High Court urges to complete DNA identification of bus accident victims expeditiously

The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the Sindh chief secretary on Wednesday to ensure DNA identification of the bus accident victims expeditiously.

SHC Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, who headed a division bench, also issued notices to the home secretary, secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA), IG Sindh, DIG traffic, National Highway Authority (NHA) director general and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator to submit detailed and comprehensive reports on the traffic accident on Superhighway that claimed over 60 lives.

The court further directed the chief secretary to ensure that the samples for DNA test are obtained and sent to the relevant DNA testing labs in Islamabad and Lahore as early as possible and pursue the matter vigorously so that the reports may be obtained at the earliest.

It instructed the authorities to explain possible cause of the accident and suggest ways and measures to prevent such occurrences in future. The bench had taken up a constitutional petition seeking probe into cause of the tragedy and action against those responsible for it. It set January 23 for next hearing.

A day before Chief Justice Baqar had converted into constitutional petition a letter addressed to him by an NGO, Justice Helpline, president Advocate Nadeem Shaikh and a relative of a bereaved lawyer family.

In the letter, it was stated that an advocate Muhammad Yasin Ahmed and his family travelling in ill-fated bus lost their lives and their burnt bodies were beyond identification.

Advocate Nadeem said fire tenders of Pakistan Steel Mill were in close proximity to the place of accident but its administration did not render any assistance to extinguish fire. The cattle colony fire station as per routine remained open from 9am to at 5pm, adding it was very strange that fire department was negligent about that fact and there was no check on their activities by the provincial government.

He said bereaved families were waiting for the charred bodies of their relatives lying at the mortuary due to DNA identification but the authorities delaying the matter.

He prayed that direction be given to the government to make payment of reasonable compensation to the legal heirs of victims.

At least 62 people, including women and children, were today when their overcrowded bus collided head-on with a speeding oil tanker on January 12, 2015 sparking a major fire in southern Pakistan, in the deadliest road accident to hit the country in recent times.

The deadly accident occurred in the early hours on the Super Highway about 50 kms from here in Sindh province as the bus was travelling from Karachi to Shikarpur, Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui said.

The overcrowded bus, carrying around 80 people with some sitting on its roof, collided with an oil tanker coming from the opposite direction and wrong side of the road.

Deputy Executive Director and In-charge, Emergency and Accident Department, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Dr Seemien Jamali said the number of dead may be higher than 60 as most of them are completely burnt and stuck to each other. She specifically referred to the bodies of at least six children stuck to women who may have been their mothers and said under the circumstances exact number of dead can not be immediately ascertained and DNA test is needed for their identification.

“Most of the bodies are beyond recognition and it is also impossible to separate the remains,” said the senior doctor mentioning that dead and injured also include women and children. “They are beyond recognition and can only be identified by DNA test,” she reiterated. It may be mentioned that a few passengers escaped unhurt as they managed to jump off the coach immediately and later the coach was overcrowded, a common practice among local public transport operators in the absence of safety regulations. They also confirmed that the vehicle itself was also not well maintained with no provision to handle any mishap, including fire extinguisher or essential first aid.

Medico Legal Department of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre has asked the immediate family members of Saturday’s National Highway accident victims to provide with their blood samples so as to help in identification of the charred bodies. Deputy Executive Director of the hospital, Dr Seemien Jamali talking to APP said that sample collection of each of the 59 charred body is also in process for providing them to police. “Since normally required blood sample is simply not possible with these badly mutilated bodies therefore we have to collect parts as essential samples,” she said in reply to a question. Dr Seemien Jamali said the exercise would be completed by Sunday evening and these would be handed to the police authorities to be despatched to National Forensic Laboratory Centre, Islamabad and ascertain exact identity of those dead, easing the important legal formalities, including handing over of bodies to their respective families. In reply to a question, she said JPMC doctors and nurses serving at its medico legal department are also engaged in collecting blood samples from bereaved family members and those claiming to be the legal heirs of the dead for further facilitation of the process.

Dr Jamali said that bodies would be placed at Edhi Welfare Trust’s mortuary till all legal formalities are completed and these are collected by their respective heirs. To another query, Dr Jamali said at the moment even the gender of these bodies could not be ascertained.

Initial reports said the tanker was travelling on the wrong side of the road along a dilapidated stretch of highway, police said. It was the second crash involving major loss of life in Sindh province in less than three months. Authorities transferred the remains to a local morgue after taking samples for DNA testing in order to identify them. Doctor Semi Jamali at Karachi’s Jinnah hospital said another four passengers with minor injuries have been discharged.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/01/14/city/karachi/shc-directs-sc-to-complete-dna-identification-of-bus-accident-victims-expeditiously/

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/sindh/12-Jan-2015/bus-hits-oil-tanker-in-karachi-67-burnt-beyond-recognition

continue reading

100 bodies recovered from Ganga, DNA samples collected

Curiosity is brewing with recovery of 50 more bodies from river Ganga in Unnao on Wednesday, taking the number of such recoveries over the last few days to 100 and prompting the Centre to ask Uttar Pradesh government what was happening. While about 30 bodies were recovered on Tuesday, 50 more were found today from the river Ganga in Safipur area of Unnao district.

So far 80 bodies have been taken out from the river near Pariyar ghat, District Magistrate Saumya Agarwal said. She said the exact number of the recoveries could not be confirmed as bodies were still being recovered. Unofficially, the body count is said to be more than 100.

As the curiosity was brewing over the mysterious recoveries, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh said these were bodies ostensibly of unmarried girls and children who were disposed off in the river by their kin as part of last rites. The bodies surfaced after water receded near Pariyar Ghat, he said.

"During preliminary investigation, local residents informed that instead of cremating the bodies of unmarried girls they are set adrift in the Ganga river," the IG said. "Most of the bodies were badly mutilated so it was difficult to ascertain their gender," he said.

The DM said post-mortem was not possible as per the opinion of the doctors and instead sampling was being done for DNA testing. A team of doctors led by Chief Medical Officer Geeta Yadav is taking forensic sample of the bodies.

In a related development, the sanitation workers have refused to take out the bodies from the river as they are in a very bad shape, an officer said. In Delhi, Union Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Cleaning Uma Bharti said, "We have also received information through the media, party workers and ministry officials over the issue."

She said she had spoken to the District Magistrate of Unnao and "I have also sought information from the Uttar Pradesh Government on how it happened."

DNA collected from bodies

A team of forensic experts on Wednesday collected DNA samples from 80 bodies. A team of 10 doctors from Unnao were requisitioned by the district administration for the job. The samples have been collected for assessing the cause of death and establishing the gender of the dead.

About 100 bodies were found floating near Pariyar Ghat in Unnao. Reports said that the Ganga here, after taking a bend in its course, follows a shallow path, which is why the bodies surfaced. The Unnao District Magistrate has been asked to submit a detailed report to the Home Department. IG (Law and Order) A. Satish Ganesh said since some of the bodies were in an advanced stage of decomposition it was not possible to collect their DNA extract. “The doctors expressed their inability to conduct any examination given the putrid state of the bodies,” Mr. Ganesh told reporters. The IG said prima facie the deaths appear to have been caused by natural causes. “The process of collecting DNA samples is being videographed,” he said.

Mr. Ganesh said a consensus to bury the bodies was agreed upon by public representatives, gram pradhans of the villages near the Pariyar Ghat, villagers and officials. The burial ritual would be conducted after mass prayers, called “shanti path”, as a mark of respect to the deceased, the IG (Law and Order) said. He added the DIG, Lucknow Range, R.K. Chaturvedi camped at the site overnight to oversee the meeting.

To identify the bodies, the gram pradhans have been asked by the Unnao district administration to submit information of those who died in their villages in the last six months. This would enable the authorities to trace their families.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-100-bodies-recovered-from-ganga-centre-seeks-information-from-uttar-pradesh-2052463

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dna-samples-collected-from-bodies-found-in-ganga/article6789645.ece

continue reading

QZ8501: Officials face challenges in identifying recovered bodies

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) officials are facing several challenges in identifying the bodies recovered from AirAsia QZ8501. One of the issues is incomplete ante-mortem data such as fingerprints or dental records.

Many of the bodies now being discovered no longer have fingerprints or recognisable physical features. DVI officials must turn to either DNA samples or dental records to accurately verify and identity an individual.

Budiyono, head of East Java Disaster Victim Identification, said: "Many have asked me why we're announcing identified bodies in small batches. That's not our intention. In fact, we are facing difficulties matching ante-mortem and post-mortem data.

"The bodies that we're handling are severely decomposed. But our DVI team is continuously working on them - thus we've been able to identify some each day."

Identifying bodies is a painstaking process, as each body that comes in to the morgue, must be compared to the ante-mortem data of the other 162 people on board QZ8501. Ante-mortem data include fingerprints, dental records, DNA samples, physical features and the last clothes worn by the deceased.

Forensic orthodontology expert A Fauzi, from the Indonesian National Police, said: "Teeth is one of the body's hardest parts which can take trauma. However if it is submerged in sea water, it can decompose quickly. So far, most of the teeth are in their sockets. But in situations where they are submerged in sea water for a long time, they can be dislocated from the sockets."

DVI officials have been working long hours to find matches as incomplete ante-mortem data have proven to be a major challenge. The officials are now taking a proactive approach in completing the ante-mortem data of the remaining unidentified passengers.

Instead of waiting for relatives to come forward, the officials have travelled to locations as diverse as the metropolis of Jakarta and a remote village on Leti island, 30 hours away by sea from Ambon, to get the data they need for a full ante-mortem profile. The DVI officials are scheduled to return to Surabaya by Tuesday.

Search for victims extended

Indonesia search and rescue agency BASARNAS has been forced to extend the search for bodies from the downed AirAsia QZ8501 beyond the “legal timeframe”, BASARNAS chief Bambang Soelistyo told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday (Jan 13), according to a Detik.com report.

In a briefing to Indonesia's House of Representatives on the search and recovery of QZ8501 crash victims, Mr Soelistyo said seven days is the legal timeframe for retrieving bodies, noting that BASARNAS has done everything by the book. The search and rescue agency was focused on finding bodies for the first seven days, while Indonesia's armed forces focused on finding the fuselage, he said.

On Jan 7, which was the 11th day of the search, the search entered a new phase when the tail was found and BASARNAS' focus switched to finding the black box – though the search for bodies continued, said Mr Soelistyo.

When asked about the chances of finding more bodies, Mr Soelistyo said it is harder to find bodies underwater than on the surface. All 48 bodies recovered so far were spread out, though BASARNAS expected most bodies to be found in the fuselage of the plane.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/qz8501-officials-face/1587534.html

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/search-for-qz8501-bodies/1586998.html

continue reading

National Highway mishap: DNA samples of 49 victims obtained

Samples of 49 people killed in a bus accident at Karachi National Highway have been obtained for the DNA test on Monday.

The samples of 49 corpses which were transferred to morgue have been sent for the verification test.

Three police officers including Sub-inspector Abdul Aziz, Shahadat Ali and Chand Muhammad will take a legal action after the identification of the dead bodies so that they can be handed over to the relatives.

Police officers have failed to capture the accused bus driver whereas Senior Superintendant of Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwar stated that the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was also called on to check the bus.

Moreover, a case has been registered in Memon Goth Police Station against the owner and the driver of the tanker. Earlier, at least 62 people including women and children were killed when their bus crashed into an oil tanker, igniting a fierce blaze at Super Highway early Sunday, officials said.

Authorities fear the death toll could rise, with most of the bodies burnt beyond recognition. Initial reports said the oil tanker was travelling in the wrong direction along the dilapidated stretch of road, police said.

In an accident, right people from one family also lost their lives.

“We have received 62 dead bodies but the death toll may rise as most of them are completely burnt and stuck to each other,” Doctor Semi Jamali at Karachi s Jinnah hospital.

Jamali said the bodies of at least six children were stuck to women who may have been their mothers, adding it was impossible to separate the remains.

“They are beyond recognition, they can only be identified by DNA test,” she said.

The overloaded bus, carrying more than 60 passengers, was en route to the town of Shikarpur from the southern port city of Karachi when the collision occurred.

Television channels showed live footage from the fiery crash site where rescue workers were busily evacuating dead bodies and any injured. Earlier, senior police official Rao Muhammad Anwaar said the bus “hit the oil tanker, which according to initial reports was coming in the wrong direction” and caught fire.

Another senior police official, Aamir Shiekh said an investigation has been launched but it appeared the poor condition of the single track road also contributed to the cause of the accident.

“We are trying to ascertain if the driver of the oil tanker was solely at fault or whether the bus driver also showed negligence,” Anwaar said. A few passengers escaped unhurt after they jumped out of the bus windows, police official Muhammad Jan said. It was the second major fatal crash in Sindh province in less than three months.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/sindh/13-Jan-2015/national-highway-mishap-dna-samples-of-49-victims-obtained

continue reading

Passengers still missing in Cape Verde ferry sinking

Three have died and a further 12 are missing after ro-ro ferry Vicente sank in heavy weather off Cape Verde, Africa, on Friday.

The vessel, built in 1965, was carrying 26, as well as a cargo of vehicles and containers en route from Praia, with some local news reports indicating the vessel was dangerously overloaded.

Eleven survivors have been rescued according to the latest reports.

A local official described the search as “not very encouraging”, indicating that, “Although weather conditions are not the best, we’re going to keep up the searches, and we’ll be here tomorrow.

“Of course with every day that goes by the likelihood of finding survivors decreases, but we’re hopeful that we’ll still be able to save more lives. If we don’t find survivors, I hope we can at least recover the bodies that are still in the water.”

Monday 12 January 2015

http://www.seatrade-global.com/news/middle-east-africa/passengers-still-missing-in-cape-verde-ferry-sinking.html

continue reading

Bad weather kills four in northern Turkey, eight missing

Snowfall and storms have killed four people in northern Turkey while eight others remain missing.

An avalanche in the northern Turkish city of Trabzon killed a worker and trapped four others on Saturday. Three fishermen drowned while four others went missing during a fishing trip in the northern province of Samsun when their boat capsized in stormy weather.

Rescue efforts were underway yesterday for the missing workers in Trabzon, but bad weather dealt a blow to the search. Five men were at a tunnel construction site in Trabzon's Çaykara district to repair a malfunctioning generator when the avalanche hit. Nusret Er's body was recovered by search and rescue crews on Saturday and four others remain trapped. Media outlets reported two of the workers were inside a vehicle when the avalanche struck.

The state-run Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) dispatched teams to the area to recover the missing workers. A statement by AFAD said heavy snowfall and a severe blizzard slowed down the efforts. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) also sent helicopters to the area to join the search, but they could not participate due to bad weather, which prevented them from flying. Crews managed to reach the spot where the snow had a depth of more than two meters 22 hours after the avalanche.

Crews advanced with difficulty to reach the area because small mountains of snow blocked the roads. A number of vehicles carrying crews were also stranded on the snowy roads while a snowplough overturned. Meanwhile, crews were able to rescue 40 other workers trapped at a snowbound construction site.

Northern Turkey, also known as the Black Sea Region, is home to steep mountain ranges where avalanches are common. In January 2009, 10 people were killed when an avalanche struck a group of trekkers on Mt. Zigana in the Black Sea province of Gümüşhane.

In the Samsun accident, seven people were aboard a small fishing boat when it capsized in a violent snowstorm. Dursun Namlı, 30, aboard the boat, tried to swim to the shore and was found and carried to the hospital by fishermen waiting ashore. He later died in hospital. Two more bodies were recovered later yesterday.Authorities said these men ignored the warning against fishing in the lake during bad weather.

Meanwhile, a group of friends of the victims sailed to retrieve the missing fishermen despite warnings. Search and rescue crews that flocked to the scene, searched Gıcı Lake for the missing fishermen.

Turkey is battling bad weather that is bearing down across the country. Snowfall and blizzards have closed down hundreds of roads in the Black Sea Region and other regions with temperatures dropping below zero Celsius. Snowfall is expected to be replaced by rainfall on Monday and temperatures will rise nationwide on Wednesday, as a new, sunny weather pattern will cover the country.

Monday 12 January 2015

http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/01/12/bad-weather-kills-4-in-the-north-8-missing

continue reading

Bodies of 6 S. Koreans from fishing tragedy in Russia arrive home

The bodies of six South Koreans who died from a fishing boat sinking in Russian waters last month arrived in South Korea on Sunday, the safety ministry said.

They are among the 60 who were fishing for pollack in the western Bering Sea on Dec. 1, when the 1,753-ton Oryong 501 sank after the crewmen failed to remove excess water from the ship during a storm, authorities said.

Only seven -- one Russian inspector, three Filipino and three Indonesian crewmen -- survived, with 27 others confirmed found and 26 others remaining unaccounted for.

A 5,000-ton Coast Guard patrol boat carrying the bodies arrived Sunday afternoon in Busan, a southeastern port city that the South Koreans had left in July.

The bodies were moved to a nearby morgue, but family members refused to take them, demanding apologies from the government and the operator of the ill-fated fishing boat as well as proper measures to search for those still missing.

Late last month, six Filipino and Indonesian survivors of the boat tragedy arrived in Busan, along with the bodies of 21 foreign victims.

South Korea, the United States and Russia had conducted the search for the missing crewmen, but no major progress was made due to inclement weather.

The South Korean government officially terminated the search last week, sparking protests from the bereaved families, who demand that all missing South Koreans be retrieved before they can be reunited.

Sunday 11 January 2015

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2015/01/11/43/0302000000AEN20150111001151315F.html

continue reading

Karachi bus crash: 62 die after collision between bus and oil tanker in southern Pakistan

At least 62 people, including women and children, were today killed when their overcrowded bus collided head-on with a speeding oil tanker, sparking a major fire in southern Pakistan, in the deadliest road accident to hit the country in recent times.

The deadly accident occurred in the early hours on the Super Highway about 50 kms from here in Sindh province as the bus was travelling from Karachi to Shikarpur, Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui said.

The overcrowded bus, carrying around 80 people with some sitting on its roof, collided with an oil tanker coming from the opposite direction and wrong side of the road.

“It was the mistake on part of drivers of both vehicles as they were overspeeding and the passenger bus was overloaded with some passengers even sitting on the roof,” Siddiqui told

“It was a very tragic incident because those killed include women and children and most were burnt alive after the bus and tanker caught fire,” Siddiqui said.

He said rescue workers recovered bodies of children stuck to their mothers as they were apparently trapped after the collision and could not escape the fire.

The devastating incident also killed nine members of a Karachi family, including its 80-year-old head and a two-year- old toddler. So far, 62 bodies were recovered from the site and sent to the state-owned Jinnah Hospital here.

Seemi Jamali, the emergency department in charge at the hospital, said most of the bodies were beyond recognition and could only be identified with DNA tests.

An unspecified number of injured have also been shifted to the Jinnah Hospital, where emergency has been declared.

“The death toll has climbed since this morning as rescue workers recovered bodies from the burnt vehicles after the fire was put off,” she said. The bus was completely burned on the inside due to the fire.

“Some even tried to save their lives by trying to leap out of the windows and from the roof of the bus,” senior police official in Shikarpur Nadeem Khan said.

Earlier, senior police official Rao Muhammad Anwaar said the bus hit the oil tanker and caught fire.

A probe has been launched but it appeared the poor condition of the single track road also contributed to the fatal accident, another senior police official Aamir Shiekh said.

Sunday 11 January 2015

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-others/57-killed-in-bus-oil-tanker-collision-in-southern-pakistan/

continue reading

AirAsia QZ8501: Three more bodies identified

The bodies of a South Korean couple have been identified, together with the body of a 19-year-old Indonesian passenger, announced Indonesia police in Surabaya at a press conference on Sunday (Jan 11).

However, the baby daughter of the South Koreans has not yet been identified, said police, adding that they have not received any bodies of a 1-year-old child - the age of the Korean baby.

The bodies of the South Koreans are still at the hospital, and police said that they are in touch with the South Korean embassy, adding that the next-of-kin of the couple have yet to arrive. A Korean Disaster Victim Identification team said they will stay on in Surabaya to wait for the baby, as well as help identify other Indonesian victims.

A total of 48 bodies have been recovered, with 32 bodies have been identified so far, said police. Another 16 bodies have not been identified.

At the press conference, police urged families to provide information if their loved ones have ever been to a dentist. Authorities said dental records are very important at this stage of the identification process, adding that they have contacted dentists to try and get dental records to help where information is not complete.

Korean Lee Kyung-Hwa was identified using data like dental records and also because she was wearing maternity bra, as she had an infant on board, said police.

Sunday 11 January 2015

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/airasia-qz8501-three-more/1582898.html

continue reading

India: GRP portal helps kin of rail accident victims trace them and get closure

For three years, Bajirao Pawar and his wife searched high and low for their teenage son, Mahesh, who had left home saying he wouldn't return till he made it big. Two months ago, Bajirao, as a last resort, visited the GRP commissioner's office and went through their portal 'Shodh' that uploads pictures of unknown rail accident vicims. After scouring through pages and pages of pictures, Bajirao broke down. He had spotted Mahesh's picture on the website. Today, he believes that finally knowing what had happened to their boy gave the family some closure.

There is an average of 10 deaths reported on the railways every single day.

Shodh was developed by the GRP to help families of missing persons trace them. And yet, despite police's efforts, there are 1,100 rail accident casualties from 2014 that are yet to be identified.

"Shodh can be accessed from anywhere but not every family is net savvy. Our personnel help them surf the portal based on the description of their missing relatives. We have also prepared a database of photographs of unknown victims that the families can go through. This rules out the need to personally visit mortuaries, which can be a very disturbing experience for a family member," says GRP commissioner Ravinder Singhal. Police have to often double up as counsellors. "Bajirao couldn't accept that the picture on the portal was his son's. We asked Bajirao's relatives to come over and not leave him alone even for a minute after he left our office," said a GRP officer. Police records showed that Mahesh was killed at Khar in April 2012, eight months after he left home. Bajirao, a night watchman based in Chembur, was away at his hometown with the rest of his family when his son left.

For Pravin Waghmare, discovering the picture of his missing grandmother on Shodh, came as a shock as she had always been found safe in the past whenever she had wandered away from home. "My grandmother, Yashwanta, was in her late seventies and had a problem remembering things. Once every few months, she would step out for buying something or for a stroll and disappear. She was usually found in Chembur where we stay, or at Wadala where our aunt lives. When she went missing earlier this year, we knew the drill. Missing complaints were registered at Chembur and Wadala police stations. But there was no trace of her," said Waghmare.

The GRP website showed that Yashwanta had been killed near Diva station on March, 30, 2014, eight months before her family learnt of the mishap.

"An unclaimed body has to be disposed of within a week. At times, we keep it in the mortuary for a fortnight if there's a slight chance of tracing the family. In cases where bodies are disposed of as unclaimed, pieces of their clothes or belongings are stored for their families to identify," said an official.

Sunday 11 January 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/GRP-portal-helps-kin-of-rail-accident-victims-trace-them-and-get-closure/articleshow/45828146.cms

continue reading

QZ8501: Team of highly specialist divers to be deployed

The Indonesian government is preparing to deploy a team of highly specialist divers to improve the chances of locating more bodies around the crash site of AirAsia flight QZ8501.

At Kumai Port in Central Kalimantan 10 from the specialist diving team known as SAR are poised to head out to sea, assisted by crews from the country's search and rescue agency BASARNAS.

Diving teams are performing one of the most important roles of this operation. Every day they are being sent down into the murky waters to try and find any debris, bodies or even the the black box.

It is an arduous task and they are being hampered by severe weather conditions – strong waves and heavy underwater currents.

Rendra Hertiadhi is the team's field commander and has 30 years of diving experience.

“Our job is to dive and recover bodies from the fuselage of the aircraft if it is found and also to retrieve whatever instrument like the flight data recorder if it happened that we found it near the bodies," he said.

“We have to release (the bodies) from whatever is trapping them, we put them in the body bags, tied to a shoot line then float them to the surface where on the surface our guys on the boat will recover the bags and bring them to shore."

The dive teams are severely affected by currents, waves and wind.

The team said if the underwater current is less than five knots it is still safe for them to go down. It requires technical and tactical expertise. Recreational divers cannot generally dive in currents stronger than two knots.

Reinhart Thamrin is a Disaster & Conflict specialist and explained that her team deployed in just 12 hours.

"We have a passion for diving and we are willing to help," she said. "The government calls us and we come."

The team will operate for seven to 10 days before being replaced by their 'beta team'.

Saturday 10 January 2015

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/specialreports/qz8501/search/qz8501-death-divers-on/1579982.html

continue reading

Surabaya issues death certificates for crash victims

Thirteen days into the search for passengers of the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Karimata Strait off Central Kalimantan, Surabaya municipality has issued 17 death certificates to victims’ families.

“We have issued 17 death certificates and will issue the rest in accordance with the identification procedure,” Surabaya Civil Registry and Population Office head Wardoyo said as quoted by Antara news agency at the Crisis Center at the East Java Police headquarters in Surabaya on Friday.

The office said it had issued the certificates based on records from the police and Bhayangkara Police Hospital and given them to the victims’ families.

“We must be very careful before issuing the certificates,” said Wardoyo.

As many as 78 of the 162 passengers on board the doomed Surabaya-Singapore flight were residents of Surabaya.

“The data has been validated through population identification numbers. We hope there won’t be any contradictory data,” said Wardoyo.

The death certificates, added Wardoyo, were required by families to claim insurance for the victims. The Surabaya municipality has provided facilities, including an integrated online system at the municipal post office at the East Java Police headquarters, to ease the issuance process.

He said complete data, including legalization of the victims’ identity cards, household cards and certificates from the hospital and police, would be sent through the online system.

“The death certificates will then be issued and handed to families of the victims,” he added.

A number of the crash victims from Surabaya have been identified, including Grayson Herbert Linaksita, 11, Hendra Gunawan Syawal, 23, The Meiji Thejakusuma, 44, Jie Stevie Gunawan, 10, and Juanita Limantara, 30.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has expressed concern over the slow pace of compensation payments to next of kin of passengers on board AirAsia flight QZ8501, urging that insurance payments be made. Transportation Ministry Regulation No. 77/2011 stipulates that the amount is Rp 1.25 billion (US$98,386) per passenger.

According to the central government, AirAsia must pay the victims’ next of kin regardless of the legal status of the flight. AirAsia Indonesia president director Sunu Widyatmoko has said the airline has ensured each victim would receive Rp 1.25 billion in compensation, which would be disbursed when the recovery and identification process had been completed.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has said her administration was ready to file a lawsuit against AirAsia if it failed to adequately compensate families of passengers on flight QZ8501, following the suspension of the airline’s flight permit from the East Java city to Singapore.

Also on Friday, East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Anas Yusuf said police would oversee the insurance claim disbursement process for victims’ families.

“We will oversee the process so the funds are immediately channeled to the right people,” said Anas at the East Java Police headquarters in Surabaya on Friday.

He added that police intended to query the management of AirAsia regarding insurance payouts for victims’ families.

“This is in line with the request from the central government to immediately compensate victims’ families, or at the latest seven days after the bodies have been identified,” said Anas.

Asked about the identification process at the Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) post at the East Java Police headquarters, Anas said he would try to speed up the process, but asked for more time from the affected families in view of the poor condition of the bodies.

“It’s quite challenging because we need two weeks for DNA identification, but we will try to accelerate the process because we have received assistance from other countries,” he said.

East Java Police DVI team leader Sr. Comr. Budiyono concurred, explaining that body-identification was no walk in the park.

“The poor and decomposing condition of the bodies has hampered the identification process and the DVI team mustn’t make any hasty decisions,” Budiyono pointed out.

Tail lifted from seabed

The Indonesian navy has retrieved from the seabed the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed two weeks ago.

Divers used an inflatable device to pull the tail to the sea's surface.

They are also searching for the plane's "black box" flight recorders, which officials believe have been separated from the tail section.

Saturday 10 January 2015

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/10/surabaya-issues-death-certificates-crash-victims.html

continue reading

Lagos church collapse: 11 victims still to be identified

The process of identifying 11 South Africans killed in a church building collapse in Nigeria has commenced, the South African government said on Friday.

"Government is committed to repatriate the remains of the 11 bodies. The work of the verification has commenced following the festive break," spokesperson Phumla Williams said.

"We will communicate with the families as soon as the Nigerian laboratory has finalised the process."

A guesthouse belonging to the Christian Synagogue, Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos on Sept. 12 last year, killing 116 people including 85 South Africans.

Eighty-five South Africans died and 26 were injured. Seventy-four bodies have already been repatriated.

"Eleven bodies remain unaccounted for due to the inability to match the DNA samples," Williams said.

She said social workers and the South African forensic unit had visited the families of the 11 people.

"Fresh samples were collected from the family representatives. These samples have been submitted to the laboratory for processing."

Williams said government was continuing to collaborate with the Nigerian authorities to identify the bodies.

"Government acknowledges that families of the victims need closure to begin the healing process. This can only happen once their loved ones are brought back home for proper burial," she said.

She appealed to religious communities to continue praying for the affected families.

Friday 9 January 2015

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Nigeria-collapse-11-SA-victims-to-be-identified-20150109

continue reading

AirAsia flight QZ8501: 'pings' of black boxes detected, more bodies recovered

A joint search and rescue (SAR) team recovered on Friday five more bodies of victims of an AirAsia flight that crashed two weeks ago, bringing the number of bodies recovered to 48 on the 13th day of the SAR operation.

Three bodies were found in the morning by Japanese vessels Onami and Takanami, while two further bodies were found by Indonesian naval vessel KN Pacitan and Malaysian vessel KD Kasturi.

The latter bodies were found in the Karimata Strait of the Java Sea, within one mile of the location where the tail of Airbus A320-200 plane has been spotted.

The two bodies were still strapped into their seats when they were found, kompas.com reported.

The bodies have been flown to Surabaya, East Java, for identification by the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.

Of the 48 bodies recovered, 25 have been identified and handed over to their families.

Black boxes

A director from the Indonesian search-and rescue agency said readings detected on Friday suggest the black box may be outside the tail section of the plane.

It comes as footage has emerged showing Indonesian military divers investigating the submerged tail of doomed AirAsia flight 8501, as search and rescue teams are hopeful that the black box from the plane's wreckage has been located.

Having located the tail of the plane on Thursday, search teams began pressing ahead with their efforts to find the black box and retrieve bodies from the wreckage, and on Friday afternoon reported detecting 'pings' from the flight data recorder.

But Suyadi Bambang Supriyadi, director of operations of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency, said pings detected about 1km southwest of the wreckage suggest the black box may be located elsewhere.

The underwater searches ended before dusk on Friday, after divers were unable to find the black box.

Indonesian authorities have warned that the black box, which is located in the tail in the Airbus A320-200, may have become separated during the crash.

Footage released by Indonesian authorities shows divers surrounding the submerged wreck, shining torches into the badly damaged hull, 30 metres under the surface of the Java Sea.

The flight data recorder, or black box, which is located in the back end of the plane, could prove crucial to determining the cause of the December 28 crash that killed all 168 people on board.



Lifting balloons were loaded onto helicopters in preparation of recovery efforts to lift the tail out of the Java Sea, despite worries that the black box may have been separated from the tail during the crash.

The footage was captured by the divers despite poor weather and murky water which has been hampering recovery efforts.

The footage shows elite divers holding a box to the exterior of the tail, which still has the identifying markers 'PK' plane on its side. An Indonesian Armed Forces Commander confirmed that a recovery of the tail is in progress, after signals from the black box, which only has 30 days of battery life, were detected yesterday.

Navy ships USS Sampson and USS Fort Worth have deployed helicopters and sonar devices into the Java Sea to aid the recovery operation off the coast of the Indonesian island of Borneo.

Only 43 bodies have been retrieved so far, as monsoon rains and winds have caused choppy sea conditions and blinding silt from river run-off, reducing visibility underwater and preventing the removal of large pieces of the wreckage.

Many of the other passengers are believed to be inside the wreckage of the plane's main cabin, which has not been located, due to strong currents moving debris around.

At two weeks, most corpses will sink, said Anton Castilani, head of Indonesia's disaster identification victim unit, and there are already signs of serious decomposition.

'Divers have reached the tail part but ... the visibility was below one metre so they only managed to retrieve various debris,' said Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's search and rescue agency.

'Now we are waiting for the speed of the current to ease. If it gets calmer later, they will go back to do another dive to determine whether the black boxes remained in the tail or were detached,' Mr Soelistyo said on Thursday.

Divers travelled by rubber boat from the KRI Banda Aceh warship that was being stationed close to the site of tail wreckage, which Mr Soelistyo said would be lifted off the seabed by retrieval experts on Friday if weather permitted.

Lieutenant. Edy Tirtayasa, commander of Indonesia's navy rescue team, told Channel News Asia they planned to send two contingents to the plane. 'We are going to send down one observation team to take photos. Then two teams will do the recovery process -- to recover bodies if there are any,' he said.

'If not, they will recover the black box for investigation and then other debris from the aircraft, he said.

He said the airline's priority still is to recover all the bodies 'to ease the pain of our families'.

Families of the victims whose bodies have been recovered held funeral ceremonies on Thursday to lay their loved ones to rest.

Family members and friends buried their bodies and lay flowers over the graves, bringing photos of the victims to lay at memorial sites.

Friday 9 January 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2902844/Inside-twisted-fuselage-AirAsia-flight-QZ8501-Eerie-video-shows-divers-searching-wreckage-doomed-jet.html

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/09/five-more-bodies-recovered-sar-team.html

continue reading

Sunken Cemfjord may be left as 'sea grave'

Strong currents and dangerous seas mean that it might be too dangerous to recover cement-carrier Cemfjord and the bodies of eight seafarers believed to be trapped inside.

The Cyprus-registered vessel turned over in bad weather in the Pentland Firth, off the north coast of Scotland, at the weekend.

On Monday, the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) sent its multifunction tender, Pharos, to locate Cemfjord, which was found "in an inverted condition" in 70m of water. It is close to where it was first spotted on Saturday, 10nm east of the Pentland Skerries, by NorthLink ferry, Hrossey.

The vessel is resting upside down on the seabed to the east of Orkney after sinking at the weekend. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is investigating the tragedy, which is thought to have claimed the lives of the eight crew – including seven Polish men and one Filipino.

A Northlink ferry, Hrossey, found the Cemfjord’s upturned hull in the Pentland Firth on Saturday, prompting a major land, air and sea search for survivors.

A liferaft from the boat was found in the Pentland Firth on Monday but there were no signs of life on board.

The vessel was last recorded between Orkney and Stroma on Friday afternoon and had not issued a distress signal. One of the lines of investigation is expected to examine why the emergency position indicating radio beacon was not activated when the boat capsized.

NLB told IHS Maritime that the ship would remain on location to assist accident investigators and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) as required.

Tony Redding, spokesman for Cemfjord's Hamburg-based manager, Brise Bereederung, told IHS Maritime, "The company feels that it would be morally wrong to ask people to put their lives at risk to recover bodies. So the wreck may be left as a seamen's grave." However a decision has yet to be made.

Brise, the flag state (Cyprus) and the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have launched investigations into the accident. A MAIB spokesman told IHS Maritime that a remotely operated vehicle will probably be sent down to examine the hull once weather conditions improve. Gusts of 60 to 70kt are forecast over the weekend.

Investigators will try to establish why the ship's emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) failed to activate. EPIRBs have been known to malfunction, but in Cemfjord's case the device may have become trapped, Redding suggested. There was no indication of anything wrong when the ship made a routine call to Brise's office at about 13.15 on Friday. "It seems that she was overwhelmed very suddenly," he added.

Since 2006, cargo ships of 3,000gt and above have been required to carry a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR), but Cemfjord, at 1,850gt, was under this limit.

At the time of the accident, Cemfjord was sailing with a temporary replacement rescue boat. Redding said that a new boat had been ordered but would not be available until late January. New davits were installed, but the slings were too short for the replacement craft. However, this only affected the rescue boat's retrieval, not its launch. An additional liferaft was carried as a condition of being allowed to sail. "Cemfjord was in a fully seaworthy condition," Redding commented.

Friday 9 January 2015

http://www.ihsmaritime360.com/article/16089/sunken-cemfjord-may-be-left-as-sea-grave

continue reading

Bodies of 13 RI workers killed in Bering Sea arrive in Jakarta

The bodies of 13 Indonesian workers employed on the South Korean fishing ship Oryong 501, which sank in the Bering Sea last month, were received by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Friday.

The bodies were flown from South Korea aboard Korean Air cargo plane, which landed at the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang, Banten, at 2:50 a.m. Friday.

All of the deceased were identified.

The foreign minister led a ceremony in which the bodies of the victims were given to their respective families. The event was attended by the head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), Nusron Wahid, and the South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia, Cho Tae-Young.

Minister Retno conveyed her appreciation for the cooperation between Indonesia, South Korea and Russia, which had been continuous since the first day of the disaster, Dec. 1, 2014.

"We (the foreign ministry) directly asked Sajo Industries, as the owner of the ship, to meet all the rights of the ship’s crew," Retno said as quoted by Antara news agency. "We don't want the rights of Indonesian workers to be neglected," she said.

Three other bodies from the same accident were scheduled to arrived in Jakarta on Friday evening. Two of them were from West Java and one was from Central Java.

Seven people survived the sinking of the Oryong 501. The remains of 27 people had been recovered, while at least another 26 remained unaccounted for as of the middle of last month.

Friday 9 January 2015

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/09/bodies-13-ri-workers-killed-bering-sea-arrive-jakarta.html

continue reading

AirAsia flight QZ8501: 24 victims identified

Coroners with the National Police’s victim-identification unit have identified 24 out of the 40 bodies recovered from the wreckage of Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501, police said on Thursday.

The 24 identified bodies, 11 women and 13 men, have been returned to their families, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said.

Ronny said police hoped to make positive identifications of 15 more victims on Thursday, which would bring the total to 39.

It was unclear on Thursday afternoon when the most recently recovered victim would be identified. Another body, the 40th to be recovered from the wreck of the crashed plane, was brought to the Surabaya hospital on Thursday afternoon.

Multinational DVI team

As more bodies are recovered from the AirAsia plane crash, experts from various countries are working together in Surabaya to help identify them before returning the bodies to their respective families.

The 28-member multinational Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team comprises experts from Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea. Between them is a wide range of forensic expertise in DNA tracing, dental identification and pathology.

The members not only observe and take part in the identification of bodies but also attend the reconciliation meeting where the inspection of bodies is verified with dental records, fingerprints, family DNA and physical features.

But as bodies in sea water decompose faster, fingerprints and physical features become even more degraded for identification. Anton Castilani, executive director of Indonesia National Police's DVI Unit, said: "We are trying to get DNA samples of the closest next-of-kin in order to help in the identification and verification process."

The multinational team are no stranger to one another. Frank Rayner, Australian Federal Police liaison officer, said: "AFP (Australian Federal Police) has got a long relationship with their colleagues in the IP (Identity Preservation) and DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) area. The DVI members will be able to not only participate in the procedure but also observe the techniques of the IP, and also our colleagues from Singapore."

Most of them took part in the annual International Disaster Victim Identification workshop, which focuses on international cooperation in response to natural and man-made disasters, particularly in the ASEAN region.

Anton Castilani said: "We came from the same training centre. This was in Indonesia at the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation where we used to run our DVI programmes, especially for international programmes. This event is more like a sharing of knowledge here."

The team is usually deployed for two to three weeks on assignment.

There are still at least 15 bodies placed in cold storage that need to be identified but authorities say verifying bodies needs time and accuracy is of utmost importance. There are hopes that the multinational team's participation can help speed up the identification of bodies before they are returned to their families.

Friday 9 January 2015

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/police-coroners-aim-identify-15-airasia-crash-victims-today/

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/multinational-dvi-team-at/1577510.html

continue reading