Remembering Bali bombings, ten years on

Ten years on, one image remains burned into my consciousness - a char-blackened human arm still wearing an amazingly pristine silver watch.

In any other context this arm would not be recognisable. It's angular, misshapen and blacker than hell. It looks like part of a tree branch after a bushfire.

But it is an arm. It is protruding from a bucket full of body parts in the morgue at Bali's main hospital, Sanglah, in Denpasar.

Hours earlier it had been attached to a vibrant young Australian man who no doubt had been enjoying the holiday of a lifetime.

How is it possible to know this? Adam Condon, who helped identify teammates from Sydney's Coogee Dolphins rugby league team, says some corpses are wearing expressions of happiness, as if their last moment was frozen in time, joyful and carefree.

There were excruciating deaths, for sure. But for many victims the end came too suddenly to be felt or recognised. It is one comforting thought amid a nightmare of dancing demons.

But whose arm was it? Maybe the watch will help provide an answer.

There is no point airbrushing macabre images like this from history because they are part of the grim reality that confronted profoundly shocked families who came to this hospital 10 years ago to find out if their kids, their brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, were still alive.

Or whether they were on the horrific death list that would eventually number 202, 88 of them Australians and three Kiwis.

On revisiting the morgue this week I bump into some of these family members and friends who are making the same cathartic journey. It's a comfort to chat with them, and I hope they feel the same.

I recall the gaunt, pale faces of a decade ago, hoping against hope they will not see something like that silver watch, or a birthday ring or pendant, or a familiar body piercing or tattoo on a body-less arm or foot, anything that will confirm their worst fears.

Most of them know the awful truth anyway. You can see it in their eyes. But they will not believe it until they see it, and in some cases they will not believe it even after they've seen it.

Adelaide couple John and Tracey Golotta do manage to identify their daughter, 19-year-old Angela. But they come back to repeat the process no fewer than four times - "just to make sure", to use their own words of heartbreak and disbelief.

Coping with grief seems unbearable at the best of times, but in such macabre surroundings it is surely too much to ask of anyone.

Sanglah's morgue is designed for a holiday island, not a terrorist atrocity. There are 10 refrigeration units, not 200.

So many mutilated bodies are piled up that the decomposing corpses themselves threaten to become a health hazard. Most lie in the outdoor heat of the tropics, wrapped in orange, yellow and white plastic bags. They form two long lines under a walkway.

Unattached body parts - and there are dozens - are kept in separate containers inside.

The stench is nauseating. Authorities have to rely on an ever-dwindling mountain of ice slabs to keep the bodies cold. They are also short of embalming fluid, and at one point even scalpels.

Scores of coffins lie in the grounds waiting to be filled.

There is no escape from this wall-to-wall grief, not even in sleep, for those few silent hours are also the time of nightmares.

The suffering of the families is raw and palpable and contagious. Some find comfort in talking, others don't. A hug, a look, a gesture seem the only means of conveying to these near-catatonic souls your empathy and compassion.

Some of the families talk volubly about those they have lost. Now and then they break down in tears, and when they do it is often while considering a seemingly innocuous question. How old was he? What was her name? Maybe it's the suddenness and brutality of the past tense. Maybe the devil is in those tiny but very personal details.

That whole fraught time is a blur of tears and pain, a mishmash of images.

And then there is the arm. It floats in my mind like the arm of the weighted-down corpse bobbing up above the water in the final scene of the movie Deliverance. Does that arm really rise, or is it just a bad dream? Who knows?

But this Bali arm is real. It has become for me a symbol of the indescribable pain of 202 families. Like their pain, it never completely goes away.

Thursday 11 October 2012

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10839775

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Cold Cases Heat Up Through New Approach to Identifying Remains

ScienceDaily (Oct. 10, 2012) — In an effort to identify the thousands of John/Jane Doe cold cases in the United States, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher and a team of international collaborators have found a multidisciplinary approach to identifying the remains of missing persons.

Using "bomb pulse" radiocarbon analysis developed at Lawrence Livermore, combined with recently developed anthropological analysis and forensic DNA techniques, the researchers were able to identify the remains of a missing child 41 years after the discovery of the body.

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river. Initial analysis conducted by investigators, using technology at the time, concluded that the cranium came from the body of a 7-9-year-old child and no identity could be determined. The case went cold and was reopened later.

The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University in Canada, where skull measurements, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age-at-death of approximately 4 1/2; years old. At Lawrence Livermore, researchers conducted radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a more precise birth date. Forensic DNA analysis, conducted at Simon Fraser University, indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child.

The multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications in forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years.

"There are thousands of John Doe and Jane Doe cold cases in the United States," said Livermore scientist Bruce Buchholz, who conducted the radiocarbon analysis in the case. "I believe we could provide birth dates and death dates for many of these cases."

Age determination of unknown human bodies is important in the setting of a crime investigation or a mass disaster, because the age at death, birth date and year of death, as well as gender, can guide investigators to the correct identity among a large number of possible matches.

Using the Laboratory's Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Buchholz determined that the radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s remains in the dental enamel, the hardest substance in the body. The radiocarbon analysis shows that dating teeth with the carbon-14 method estimates the birth date within one to two years.

Above-ground testing of nuclear weapons during the Cold War (1955-1963) caused a surge in global levels of carbon-14 (14C), which has been carefully recorded over time. The radiocarbon technique determines the amount of 14C in tooth enamel. Scientists can relate the extensive atmospheric record for 14C to when the tooth was formed and calculate the age of the tooth and its owner.

In forensic cases where teeth are unavailable, the radiocarbon analysis of bone also can provide useful information whether the time of death occurred prior to 1955 or afterward.

In the missing child case, Buchholz determined radiocarbon values for two teeth, which once analyzed showed that that the average of the crown's enamel formation span occurred between 1959 and 1961.

"In a conservative estimate, the carbon-14 value for the crown's enamel would correspond with a birth year between 1958 and 1962," Buchholz said.

In summary, the 14C dates in combination with the age-at-death estimate using anthropological techniques suggest that the child was born between 1958 and 1962 and died between 1963 and 1968.

The research also has implications for the identity of victims in mass graves or mass fatality contexts, where a combined DNA and radiocarbon analysis approach provides the additional benefit of distinguishing between maternal relations.

Besides Livermore and Simon Fraser University, other institutions participating in the research include the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Journal Reference:

Camilla F. Speller, Kirsty L. Spalding, Bruce A. Buchholz, Dean Hildebrand, Jason Moore, Rolf Mathewes, Mark F. Skinner, Dongya Y. Yang. Personal Identification of Cold Case Remains Through Combined Contribution from Anthropological, mtDNA, and Bomb-Pulse Dating Analyses. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2012; 57 (5): 1354 DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02223.x

Thursday 11 October 2012

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121010141458.htm

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Forensic doctor recalls trauma of Bali bombings

THE Bali bombings were so huge that six of the 202 victims and 38 body parts remained unidentified three months later.

Forensic pathologist Dr Putu Alit, who played a key role in the difficult and drawn-out identification process, recalled this week the trauma, sleepless nights and frustrations that followed the terrorist attacks in Kuta's central nightclub area 10 years ago.

Dr Alit, who still works at Denpasar's Sanglah hospital, said many bodies were so badly disfigured that identification in some cases took up to three months.

"Not all we can identify," he told AAP.

"We still have about six victims and 38 body parts (unidentified after three months) because they are in bad condition."

The explosions were so massive, particularly the almost 1,000-kilogram bomb that detonated in a white Mitsubishi van outside Kuta's Sari Club, that some victims were said to have virtually vaporised, leaving no remains. Even 10 years later two are still unnamed.

Interpol protocols require two identifiers, primary and secondary, Dr Alit explained.

Primary identifiers include fingerprint, dental and DNA evidence.

Many young Australians raised on fluoridated water had either no or incomplete dental records, and some victims were too badly damaged to be fingerprinted.

This meant that DNA evidence was used in about half of all cases.

In the absence of primary identifiers, at least two secondary identifiers must be found, including medical, property and photographic evidence.

One Swedish victim was identified by a unique upper arm tattoo.

"It was very specific," said Dr Alit.

Other indicators included medical scars, necklaces and rings, which were especially helpful if they bore the owner's name.

In the case of one Australian teenager killed, the brand of jeans she was wearing helped, in addition to primary identifiers.

Dr Alit was part of a dedicated team that worked virtually around the clock in the days and weeks after the bombings, from 8am until they fell asleep, often after midnight.

The delay in confirming victims' names was a source of frustration and anguish for Australian families at the time, but authorities had to be 100 per cent sure of identification.

"At the beginning it was a riot (a confusing scene) with many, many victims coming," Dr Alit recalled.

"Many had severe burns and victims came in many body parts."

He said it was difficult for medical staff to keep their emotions in check in the face of such an atrocity.

"Because we are doctors we must be impartial, neutral," he said.

"We must do no sad, not appear like that. We only must do our duty."

Thursday 11 October 2012

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/doctor-recalls-trauma-of-bali-bombings/story-fn3dxix6-1226493677919

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Lessons learned: Post-accident crisis management is almost non-existent in Nepal

The Sita Air crash near the airport on 28 September happened exactly one year after the Buddha Air crash at Kot Danda, and barely six months after an Agni Air plane hit a mountainside in Jomsom.

In the past six years alone, 114 people have been killed in airline accidents in Nepal, making our aviation safety record as bad as countries that are notoriously dangerous for flying like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. The reasons are ineffective regulation, lack of a maintenance culture, poor crew training, and lax enforcement of procedures for bad weather flying.

Nepal's rugged terrain makes it one of the most challenging places to fly in the world, but monsoon clouds, inadequate navigation facilities, and the poor condition of airports make it even more treacherous. In addition, aviation in Nepal is governed by the same culture of carelessness, fatalism, and poor discipline that we see exhibited on the roads and highways every day.

We never learnt our lessons from past accidents and the recommendations of the inquiry reports after previous disasters were never implemented, so it is likely that the tragic deaths of those who perished last Friday on the soggy banks of the Manohara River will also have been in vain.

Four hours later, police had cordoned off the area but in the process tampered with the evidence air crash investigators would need.

More than 90 per cent of the crashes in Nepal have been caused by pilot error, usually by flying into a mountain in poor visibility. However, the Sita Air crash seems to have been the first known fatal crash caused by a bird strike in Nepal.

Post-accident crisis management has been almost non-existent in Nepal. After the Buddha Air crash last year, thousands of gawkers flocked to the impact site trampling on evidence, picking up souvenirs, and obstructing rescue and police vehicles. Eye-witnesses saw police themselves pocketing valuables from the bodies and the wreckage.

To be sure, Kot Danda villagers who were first on the scene helped pull out a wounded passenger from the plane and rushed him to hospital, where he died. But the lack of crowd control after an accident hampered rescue. People were at the scene of the Sita Air crash last week within minutes, and had they tried to get the passengers out they could have been killed as well because the plane caught fire and exploded.

However, thousands of people had gathered to look at the plane on fire, some wading across the river to get closer. The sheer mass of onlookers obstructed fire and rescue vehicles, and the first police on the scene did not cordon off the area with the standard 50-m no-go radius. Traffic police should have been keeping the road clear for rescue vehicles, but became onlookers themselves. Fire trucks had to project foam on the burning plane from 50m away. The head of the Civil Aviation Authority was busy giving live tv interviews, with the burning wreckage serving as backdrop, instead of coordinating rescue and protecting the integrity of the crash site for investigators.

The disaster of the plane crash was followed by the disaster of ineffective crisis management. This calls for a serious review of police, fire and rescue training, and putting a clear chain of command in place. During the Buddha Air crash, the army had a ground team that coordinated effectively with rescue helicopters to clear a helipad at the edge of the forest. Body bags, gloves, and stretchers were all ready. If someone has to take charge of rescue, the army seems to be best equipped to do so.

The Sita Air crash also brings up the problem of bird activity on and above the runway. Kathmandu airport is now surrounded by garbage-filled urban sprawl, the nearby Manohara and Bagmati rivers are dumping grounds for animal carcasses. The airport management is supposed to have bird control officers, where were they on Friday morning?

There was serious mismanagement of a crisis situation last week, it showed there has been virtually no training and simulation for response that is rapid, coordinated, and multi-tasked. If this is what happens after the crash of a small plane, imagine the chaos and confusion after a bigger disaster, or a mega earthquake in Kathmandu.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/2012/10/10/Nation/19696#.UHVJIT3cz3U

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Japanese workers begin search for tsunami bodies in Okawa 19 months later

Okawa, an area to the south of the Kitakami river, which flooded despite extensive embankments, was left beneath the level of the sea due to the massive surface movements caused by the March 11, 2011 earthquake.

It has taken engineers 19 months to build new protective dykes and pump the seawater out of an area covering 106 hectares.

In total, 15,870 people have been confirmed dead in north-east Japan, while a further 2,814 are still listed as missing. Of the missing, 23 were swept away from this district of the city of Ishinomaki, including four children and one teacher from the school.

The remains of 74 pupils at the school have been identified.

Teams made up of police officers, employees of the city board of education and other volunteers began the search on Monday, sifting through the mud and debris with hand tools while heavy machinery excavated larger sections.

"We will search without overlooking a single bone fragment and return the bodies to their families as soon as possible," Akihiko Sato, a local police officer, told Kyodo News.

Officials said the search will continue until March next year, which will see the second anniversary of the disaster.

On Saturday, the Emperor and Empress are scheduled to visit residents of a village that sits astride the 12.4 miles exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The Imperial couple will meet residents of the village of Kawauchi who are living in temporary housing units and see progress in efforts to decontaminate the area of radiation.

Of the village's 3,000 original residents, around 500 have returned after being evacuated shortly after the Fukushima reactors released huge amounts of radiation into the surrounding countryside.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9597740/Japanese-workers-begin-search-for-tsunami-bodies-in-Okawa-19-months-later.html

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Northeast Nigeria hospital overwhelmed by dead bodies

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Nigerian officials dumped dozens of corpses in front of a hospital in northeast Nigeria after soldiers opened fire and killed more than 30 civilians. The hospital, overwhelmed by the scale of the violence, had to turn away the dead as its morgue had no more room.

The killings Monday come as besieged, underpaid and enraged soldiers remain targets of guerrilla attacks by the extremist Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which holds this city in the grip of bloody violence.

That anger among the enlisted men and officers stationed throughout Nigeria's northeast has seen civilians harassed, arrested, tortured and even killed — raising concerns that Monday's attack may just be the tip of killings committed by security forces, human rights activists warn.

"This is just the latest in a number of incidents in Maiduguri where soldiers have allegedly committed serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings of community members following Boko Harm attacks," said Eric Guttschuss, who studies Nigeria for Human Rights Watch.

A bombing Monday morning by suspected members of Boko Haram that a soldier said killed a lieutenant sparked the violent retaliation. The troops opened fire with assault rifles and heavy machine-guns mounted on armoured personnel carriers on a busy street in Maiduguri, near the local headquarters of the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

An Associated Press journalist saw more than 50 shops and homes burned in the attacks Monday, with the bodies of civilians lying alongside the streets. The dead carried no weapons, nor any sign they belonged to the sect or posed a threat to the soldiers.

Footage aired Tuesday afternoon by the state-run Nigerian Television Authority showed people trying to splash water on their burning homes after the attack, while others fearfully raised their hands above their heads as a government motorcade sped past.

On Tuesday, a worker at Maiduguri General Hospital told the AP that officials collected 32 corpses after the attack. The hospital turned away other bodies as its morgue was full, the worker said, with bodies of the dead on the floors for hours. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity, out of fear of angering soldiers.

The worker said the remaining bodies were taken to the nearby Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern Hospital. Officials there declined to talk Tuesday to an AP journalist.

In statements Tuesday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Sagir Musa denied that soldiers killed civilians and blamed the resulting fires and damage that went on for blocks on the single bomb that targeted soldiers earlier that morning. He did not explain how the dozens of civilians were shot dead.

While widely considered to have one of the strongest militaries in Africa, Nigeria's armed forces have been accused of killing civilians in the past — including after abandoning military rule for an uneasy democracy. In 1999, ethnic Ijaw activists claimed more than 200 civilians were killed by the military in Odi in Bayelsa state. In 2001, soldiers burned down seven villages in Benue state and killed at least 150 civilians in the midst of ethnic violence there.

Another military raid in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta state against militants there killed 100 people, activists said, though soldiers blocked AP journalists from reaching the area at the time.

Lucy Freeman, who studies Nigeria for Amnesty International, said her advocacy group remained concerned about the killings Monday in Maiduguri and called for an independent investigation.

"To execute a person who is already in the custody of security forces or otherwise under their control ... (can) constitute a crime under international law for which those responsible must be brought to justice," Freeman said Tuesday.

The killing of civilians comes as Boko Haram continues its bloody guerrilla campaign against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, is blamed for killing more than 690 people in drive-by killings and bombings this year alone, according to an AP count. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.

The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims in their attacks, as well as soldiers and security forces. Nigeria's military has claimed it has killed a number of the sect's senior leadership in recent days, including operational commanders and the sect's spokesman, who used the nom de guerre Abul Qaqa. However, the sect's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has eluded capture and continues to make Internet videos that taunt and threaten further violence against Nigerian government officials and security forces.

For now, activists worry that while Boko Haram remains a shadowy and hidden group, soldiers will take their rage out on civilians nearby. And as Nigeria's military continues to publish body counts following its operations, some fear those tallies may include innocent bystanders caught up in the violence simply by living nearby.

Meanwhile, the country's leaders remain apparently unable to halt the mounting casualties, including the killings of more than 20 university students recently in the nation's northeast.

Nigeria's leaders "barricade themselves behind tall, reinforced concrete fences and bulletproof cars. They move with a fearsome retinue of guards, soldiers and police," columnist Okey Ndibe wrote in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Sun newspaper. "They don't realize that their so-called security is a lie, a huge illusion. They don't reckon that the monster abroad in the land is growing stronger and fiercer by the day, and will soon lay siege on their doors."

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Northeast+Nigeria+hospital+overwhelmed+dead+bodies+after+soldiers/7362862/story.html#ixzz28t93jUpf

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Floods kill seven in Russia's Dagestan region

Heavy rains caused flooding that killed seven people in the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Wednesday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

About 320 homes in the Caspian Sea coastal city of Derbent close to the Caucasus Mountains were flooded and seven bodies were found, the ministry said.

As a result of heavy rainfall eight streets in the city filled with mud and a state of emergency was declared.

In total there were 1,120 people in the area of flooding, including 270 children, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry.

357 rescue workers and emergency personnel people and 60 rescue vehicles are involved in rescue operations. Two Emergency Situations Ministry aircraft have been dispatched to the scene.

A flash flood killed 171 people in August in the Caucasus in the Krasnodar region town of Krymsk, where residents said they had no warning of the danger.

President Vladimir Putin visited the area and several local officials were sacked and detained. In Derbent, warnings were issued from loudspeakers at mosques and mounted on cars dispatched around the city in the mostly Muslim province, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_floods-kill-seven-in-russia-s-dagestan-region_1751016

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In a rural Texas county, an increasing number of illegal immigrants are dying before they can complete the journey to what they hoped would be a better life

MISSION, Texas -- In the freezer of a small funeral home nearly 13 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, 22 bodies are stacked on plywood shelves, one on top of the other.

The bodies wrapped in white sheets have names, families and official countries of origin -- Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, sometimes China or Pakistan. The bodies in black shrouds are the remains of the nameless and unclaimed, waiting to be identified.

For the past few years, the family-owned Elizondo Mortuary and Cremation Service in Mission, Texas, has been taking in the remains of undocumented immigrants found dead in nearby counties after crossing the border from Mexico. This year, however, they had to build an extra freezer. It’s become difficult to keep up with the rising tide of dead coming to them from across the Rio Grande Valley.

Crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally has always been dangerous, but this year heat and drought have made the journey particularly deadly. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, this part of the border has seen a sharp rise in both rescues and deaths of people crossing the border illegally. So far in 2012, agents have rescued more than 310 people, and found nearly 150 dead in the Rio Grande Valley -- an increase of more than 200 percent over the last fiscal year.

This comes as migration across the U.S.-Mexico border has dropped to historic lows, falling nearly 62 percent over the last five years, according to numbers recently released by CBP. But the proportion of deaths to apprehensions is rising -- suggesting that while fewer are crossing, more are dying.

Ground zero is over 70 miles north of the border, in Brooks County. Last year the remains of about 50 presumed undocumented immigrants were found in the county. This year, the tally has reached about 104, with nearly three months to go.

The rising number of unclaimed corpses marks a growing crisis for this cash-strapped county of fewer than 7,500 residents. Because Brooks has no coroner, it sends the bodies recovered on its vast cattle ranches to Elizondo in neighboring Hidalgo County. It costs, according to county officials, about $1,500 for each body to be processed.

Both the county and Elizondo also make efforts to identify the remains. In most cases, chances are slim. The mortuary uses physical descriptions and accounts of the clothing worn by missing immigrants to attempt to match bodies, but often there are few clues to work with. The elements and animals often destroy corpses and scatter bones across the desert. While DNA testing could help, neither Brooks County nor Elizondo can afford to order the tests for every unidentified body.

Many of the migrants who are found dead in this part of South Texas end up buried in paupers’ graves, remembered only by their gender, case number and the name of the ranch where they died.

In September, Marta Iraheta traveled from Houston to Falfurrias, Texas, the seat of Brooks County. She came seeking the remains of her nephew and a friend who disappeared in July as they crossed illegally into the United States.

Twenty-year-old Elmer Esau Barahona left his hometown of San Vicente, El Salvador, on June 10th. On June 27th -- his is daughter’s second birthday -- he called his mother to say he had arrived in the border city of McAllen, Texas.

He told her he and his friend were staying in a stash house, waiting for the smugglers to take them on the next leg of the journey. From the stories Iraheta has pieced together from survivors, her nephew and his friend left McAllen five days later, on the evening of July 2.

Tuesday 9 October 2010

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/09/14300178-deadly-crossing-death-toll-rises-among-those-desperate-for-the-american-dream?lite

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‘Angels’ search for migrants’ bodies

FALFURRIAS — Miles and miles of brush filled with hidden dangers, dehydration and high temperatures line the road awaiting many undocumented immigrants who try to circumvent U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in Falfurrias and Sarita.

The trek has led many of those migrants to graves that line the municipal cemetery in Falfurrias.Small metal plaques that read “unknown male remains” or “unknown female remains” mark the end of the journey for many immigrants and leave their families back home with questions about their fate.

“The bodies here are just the ones that have been found and most of the time they are found only by accident,” said Rafael Hernandez, the director of Angeles Del Desierto, a nonprofit that searches inhospitable areas looking for stranded migrants — and their bodies.

While the group is based in California, the repeated calls that it receives about migrants traveling through the Rio Grande Valley prompted Hernandez to make the drive east in an effort to establish the networks needed to have his group search the areas around the checkpoint.

“I have gotten about 200 reports of missing migrants that were traveling through this area,” he said. “Unlike California or Arizona, most of this land is private property so we have to make contacts with the ranch owners so they will let us search through their property.”

Angeles Del Desierto attempts bringing closure to families, said Hernandez, who arrived with a list of missing migrants he hopes to find or rescue.

In 2012, Border Patrol has rescued about 300 immigrants and recovered more than 150 bodies in the Rio Grande Valley sector to date, said agency spokesman Enrique Mendiola.

“On top of the extreme weather, you have the dangers presented by the wildlife out there: coyotes, wild pings and rattlesnakes are just some of them,” Mendiola said, adding that immigrants also suffer from dehydration. “They are not able to carry enough water with them and if they do find water it is from a contaminated source.”

During his trip to the Valley, Hernandez trekked through one of the ranches searching for migrants and trying to survey the area to determine the dangers that migrants face. The biggest obstacles Hernandez faced were the “no trespassing” signs posted at many ranches.

With a backpack filled with emergency supplies and a cell phone, Hernandez walked for several miles searching for bodies or migrants in need of help. A cell phone is the best survival tool because migrants can dial 911 if they need help and authorities can pinpoint their location for rescue effort, he said.

“Sadly enough we were not able to find any migrants,” Hernandez said.

“We were, however, able to identify the body of a 12-year-old boy we had been looking for.”

Elmer Calinga Ceballos traveled from El Salvador to the U.S to seek a better life and reunite with his family; however, his journey ended on a table at the Elizondo Mortuary in Mission, where officials hadn’t been able to identify him.

Hernandez helped provide preliminary identification, which prompted the Salvadoran consulate to get involved and make arrangements to have the body sent home for burial.

When bodies turn up, the local sheriff’s office becomes involved.

Investigators at the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office have noted a sharp increase in the number of bodies discovered, said Chief Deputy Urbino “Benny” Martinez.

In 2010, deputies found 22 bodies. That figure had nearly tripled by 2011, when they found 64 bodies. But those numbers pale in comparison to the 95 bodies found so far this year.

Deputies find bodies at all stages of decomposition, including corpses that have been reduced to skeletal remains.

“This is a very sad case because these individuals are placed in the trust of unscrupulous individuals who will not hesitate to leave them to their fate,” Martinez said.

An additional danger is the predatory nature of the coyotes — guides — who sometimes sexually assault the women they’ve been paid to smuggle north, Martinez said, adding that his department is investigating five such cases.

“What makes it difficult to investigate is that many times all we have to go on is a nickname or a tattoo,” Martinez said. “The victim doesn’t know who that individual really is.”

Smugglers sometimes force illegal immigrants to carry drugs, leaving them exposed to federal prosecution.

“For the most part, they are hardworking people,” Martinez said. “The best choice would be for governments to have some way to fix this immigration problem so these individuals can travel in a humane fashion.”

Tuesday 9 October 2012

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_b9ad0ca4-10f3-11e2-a700-0019bb30f31a.html

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'John Doe' in '87 Arizona crash ID'd as missing teen

After nearly a quarter of a century in a pauper's grave, John Bryan Moore is going home.

Moore ran away from his home in Southern California at age 16, hitchhiking cross-country to Florida.

His family would wait for him for the next 24 years, wondering if he was just too scared to come home, or if he had settled down somewhere.

They never dared to move away or even change their phone number in the hopes that he might look for them.

As technology and social media developed, they searched for him with renewed hope on Google and Facebook.

Now, they are finally reunited, but it wasn't the outcome the family had hoped for.

"I think it's the beginning of the closure that at least now, we know that he's not out there in the desert someplace, or in the hills," his father, Joe Moore, said in an emotional news conference on Monday. "We know exactly where he's at and where he's going. To me, that would be better than me going to my grave and never knowing."

Moore died in June 1987, six months after he was reported missing. He was hitchhiking from Arizona to California -- his family believes he was coming home -- but died in a car crash on westbound Interstate 10 near Tonopah.

The only identification he had was on a duffel bag with his name misspelled -- authorities suspect that he might have changed it because he was a runaway or that the initial investigating officer wrote it down wrong.

Moore was buried amid hundreds of other nameless bodies at Maricopa County's Twin Butte Cemetery for the indigent, a gravel lot tucked away next to I-10 just south of Broadway Road in Tempe. A metal disc about the size of a coaster marked his grave as John Doe, case No. 87-1337.

In late 2010, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office received a federal grant to begin exhuming more than 200 sets of unidentified remains and use new technology and investigative techniques to solve their cases.

So far, they have identified 11 sets of remains out of the 40 they have investigated. They have partial sketches and causes of death for others.

The county project is one of many across the country that the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice funds. The Identify the Missing project focuses on unnamed bodies buried from 1950 to 1992. This spring, the county Medical Examiner's Office applied for another round of funding, which is expected to be announced soon.

Moore's case took nearly two years of intense cross-agency work, a team of dedicated investigators and some luck.

Investigators zeroed in on Moore's case, optimistic that they had enough leads to piece the puzzle together.

"He was a 16-year-old boy -- a boy who ran away from home. For us, this case has been painful because we all have children, and we know what it's like for someone to be missing," said Laura Fulginiti, a forensic anthropologist with the project.

There is minimal evidence available in most of the unidentified cases because burials were so long ago. It takes a wide-cast net and cooperation among several agencies, sometimes in different states, to make an identification.

Moore's fingerprints had initially been on file in California but for some reason were no longer in the system, leading to a lengthier search process, officials said. Detectives searched through a list of juveniles who were missing but no longer listed in the national missing-persons database. A search combining his age, demographics and characteristics yielded 30,000 results.

Moore's duffel bag also had a Florida address with it, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety's report on the accident. But, at the time, attempts to identify him with that information failed, county officials said.

This time, Detective Steve Leon, who recently left the agency, began with the address and searched for more leads, narrowing down potential matches.

When he found the most likely candidate, the team contacted Moore's family members.

The family offered DNA samples right away. They matched. Moore's brother identified the tattoo on his chest -- his parents didn't know Moore had gotten it.

"This has been extremely overwhelming," said Joella, Moore's older sister. "Some people might think that we've had 24 years to prepare ourselves for this. There is no preparation because you always have hope."

She recalled times she and her brother shared at home in California -- before the anger issues that troubled him and which, his family believes, ultimately drove him to run away.

"We grew up in a small little country town. We built forts with spoons, in alfalfa fields, and threw rocks at cars when they drove by," she said. "We were getting into all kinds of trouble. A typical kid, you know? A little country kid."

It has been a rough few weeks for the family. They imagine his last moments and potentially suffering at a hospital in a different state by himself, she said near tears.

The family wonders if they could have found answers earlier: If his name wasn't "Brian" on his duffel bag, or if they had searched for variations of his name. They wonder how they missed the various Arizona news stories that had been published about Moore after the new program began.

The Moores urged other families with missing members to keep information updated in the national database.

Joe Moore urged other families to keep contacting law enforcement, especially if information disappears or becomes outdated on national missing-persons databases. "Don't give up," Moore said.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/10/08/20121008arizona-john-doe-arizona-crash-identified-missing-teen.html?nclick_check=1#ixzz28n3wqOBo

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Baldia fire mystery deepens as 70 persons still missing

KARACHI, Oct 8: As the report of the Sindh government’s inquiry tribunal set up to investigate the Baldia Town factory inferno is keenly awaited, the mystery behind the deadly incident is deepening with each passing day, with more than 70 families of missing Ali Enterprises workers still looking for their loved ones and 39 charred bodies being kept at the Edhi morgue.

While the authorities are firm on 259 deaths in the last month’s tragic incident, the number of persons who were inside the industrial unit at the time of the fire and missing since put a serious question mark over their fate and the total number of casualties.

Background interviews with grieving families and interaction with labour and non-governmental organisations engaged with these families after the tragedy suggest that there are more than 70 families in the Baldia Town, Orangi Town and SITE whose loved ones have not yet returned home after the fire incident, which has turned the Ali Enterprise factory into a haunted place.

Amna Bibi is passing through dual tragedy. She is unaware of the fate of his paternal cousin Kamaluddin, a ‘helper’ at Ali Enterprises. Nobody has approached her to confirm his association with the industrial unit. The 66-year-old labourer was posted at the second floor of the garments factory, where most of the casualties took place.

“He had been living with us since childhood when his parents died,” she said. “He was unmarried and had no one in blood relation. After the incident, we have made every possible effort to trace him or his body in vain. People said he was dead, but how one could believe it without seeing his body.” Since the labourer had no sibling or child, no blood samples had been taken for DNA matching with the unidentified bodies.

Amna Bibi is not alone as Rehana Yasmin of the Hosiery Garment Textile Workers Union says her organisation has so far collected details of more than 60 families, which are unaware of the fate of their loved ones, employed at the factory.

“We have completed a survey of Badia Town and Orangi Town in collaboration with Piler (Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research),” she says. “Here we have 65 families whose members have been missing after the fire incident. If they have died, the casualties are much higher than reported as 39 bodies are yet to be identified.”

Similarly, she says, the union also came to know about New Karachi and SITE areas, where the families of Ali Enterprises workers are looking for their loved ones and their count could further increase the number of missing persons to more than 70.

The authorities have declared a total of 259 deaths in the fire that engulfed Ali Enterprise on Sept 11 evening and took more than 18 hours to extinguish with over 50 firefighters taking part in the operation using almost all available machinery and equipment of the city’s fire department.

Rescue workers insist that they cleared the industrial unit only after retrieving all bodies, including several charred ones, from the garment factory.

“The limbs and other parts of bodies were also recovered from the factory after the fire died down, but not in a huge number,” said chief fire officer Ehtashamuddin. “Almost all bodies are intact and it’s not possible that human remains in such a large number remained out of rescue workers’ sight.”

Tuesday 9 October

http://dawn.com/2012/10/09/baldia-fire-mystery-deepens-as-70-persons-still-missing/

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Factory fire: Govt told to speed up victims’ identification

KARACHI: Finally there’s some hope for some 70 families whose beloved remain unidentified almost a month after the tragic Baldia factory fire.

The Sindh High Court has told the Sindh government to speed up the DNA matching process to identify the remaining victims of the country’s worst industrial disaster. The court has also ordered the authorities to submit the complete details of those killed or injured in the tragedy and provide compensation to the bereaved families.

On Monday, Justice Maqbool Baqir, heading a two-member bench, was hearing five similar petitions filed by different non-governmental organisations seeking judicial inquiry of the garment factory inferno that claimed 258 lives on September 11.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, moved a miscellaneous application to call complete details from the Sindh government of how many government departments or private bodies had announced compensation and who had so far given the money to the victims’ families or the survivors.

He added that nearly 70 bodies of people killed in the tragedy have still not been identified and the court should direct the government departments to accelerate the process of DNA testing.

Allowing the plea, the court gave 10 days to the authorities to provide the complete details of the victims and survivors of the tragedy and the amount of compensation, if paid, to anyone.

The judges also ordered the government to speed up the identification of unidentified victims and submit its report on the next hearing date.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

http://tribune.com.pk/story/448855/factory-fire-govt-told-to-speed-up-victims-identification/

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19 troops killed in Egypt accident

EL-ARISH, Egypt, Oct 8 AP - An Egyptian official says a troop carrier has overturned on a mountain road in the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 19 members of the security forces stationed on the border with Israel.

Health Ministry official Tarek Khater says the vehicle was transferring troops of the paramilitary Central Security Forces to their camp early Monday.

Khater says six others are in critical condition. A security official however says the injured number at least 48. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

It was a different part of the Sinai from where the military is conducting a sweep against Islamic militants.

Road accidents are common in Egypt due to badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws. Police estimate they kill about 6,000 people annually.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/troops-killed-in-egypt-accident/story-e6freoo6-1226490980119

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Three dead, 13 missing in French accident

THREE people were dead and 13 missing on Monday after a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized in the Indian Ocean off the French overseas territory of Mayotte, the local prefect's office said.

Eight others survived the accident on the boat, which had departed from the Comoran island of Anjouan, about 100 kilometres from Mayotte.

The boat capsized 300 metres off the coast and the search was continuing for other potential survivors, the office said.

Such accidents are common in the area, with several in the last few months including a shipwreck on September 8 that left six dead and 27 others missing and one in July in which seven people died and four went missing.

Mayotte is part of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros. While the three other islands chose independence from France in 1975, it opted to remain under French rule.

Many Comorans hoping to find work or medical care in Mayotte board rickety fishing boats to attempt the risky voyage, often foundering on coral reefs.

Some two-fifths of Mayotte's 200,000 inhabitants are thought to be illegal immigrants

Monday 8 October 2012

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/three-dead-13-missing-in-french-accident/story-e6frea7u-1226490926240

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Lack of information adds to trauma of ferry tragedy

Hong Kong's deadliest maritime disaster in four decades brought the city to a standstill a week ago.

While most of us were touched by rescuers who did their best to save more than 100 lives, the tragedy exposed the government's failure to disseminate information to the public, leaving many questions unanswered.

It is fair to say that the government reacted quickly to the disaster, in which a public ferry collided with a private motor launch last Monday night. Under Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying, departmental co-ordination was swiftly in place. But measures to provide updates about the victims were grossly inadequate.

Such information is particularly crucial not only to the rescue operation but also the subsequent investigation. This was glaringly obvious when no one, including the police, could get hold of the number of passengers on board the sunken motor launch, Lamma IV.

The lack of timely information forced distraught relatives to rush around hospitals looking for their loved ones.

Hongkong Electric, the owner of the Lamma IV, has been vague about its passenger list. It was not until the third day after the accident that it said it did not have a list of people on board.

On the same day, the government released just 11 names of the 38 who died, accounting for less than a third of the total. This was later increased to 39.

Officials said they could not release names without the victims' families' consent, despite the fact that the privacy law does not cover dead people.

Such a lack of information is unusual, with reporters normally being given the age, sex and names (sometimes not in full) of accident victims.

For tragedies such as the Manila hostage crisis in 2010 and the fire in Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, last year, the release of information was prompt. In both incidents, a list of people injured and their condition, along with those who died - with full names - were made available the next day.

As of today, the public is still confused about the scale of last Monday's tragedy. While Hongkong Electric revised its first-day figure of 124 passengers to 127, the casualties from various government departments show 131 in total.

Despite the confusion, the government seems to have made premature conclusions about the crash, raising questions as to the truthfulness of the investigations. Officials told the public on Tuesday the vessels were not overloaded. They also said all victims had been accounted for and rescuers had stopped the search.

Journalism academics agreed that more transparency would make investigations easier and fairer.

A full list of the names would allow the public to help identify the missing. Knowing the number of passengers on board will also tell investigators if the vessel was overloaded.

On the downside, the families of those who died could be upset by such aggressive reporting. But there has to be a balance between protecting privacy and the public interest.

Two days after the collision the government assembled rescuers from the disciplined services to share brave tales with the public.

While some officers dismissed the exercise as "propaganda" held at an inappropriate time, the Security Bureau said it was arranged at the media's requests.

It could be argued that the government has selectively released information, or could it be a more worrying sign of sheer incompetence. But the fact remains that an accurate death toll is still unclear today.

It is in the public interest for a thorough probe to be conducted so the government must release as quickly as possible full details of those who have died.

Monday 8 October 2012

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056081/lack-information-adds-trauma-ferry-tragedy

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11 dead in Central China ship collision, one missing

CHANGSHA - Eleven people have died after two ships collided Friday afternoon in central China's Hunan province, the local government said Saturday.

One person remains missing, said Liu Lanping, a spokesperson with the city government of Yuanjiang.

A steel ship carrying 22 people collided with an unloaded sand carrier around 4 p.m. Friday on a river in Yuanjiang. All 22 people onboard the steel ship fell into the river. Ten people were rescued, while another 11 perished, Liu said.

A search for the missing person is under way. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

"Around 4 p.m. Friday, I heard a sudden crashing sound," said 50-year-old fisherman Zhong Lepeng, who witnessed the collision.

Zhong said he saw the smaller of the two ships turn on its side, and its bow was submerged.

Zhong and other fishermen rushed to rescue those who had fallen off of the boat. The survivors are receiving medical treatment.

A preliminary investigation by the local government indicated that the steel ship was not certified to carry passengers.

Monday 8 October 2012

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-10/06/content_15798356.htm

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Tough questions on way for Key on body recovery

Prime Minister John Key will face tough questioning today from Pike River families desperate for the Government to restart body-recovery efforts.

Key is due to meet several Pike River family members and their lawyers this afternoon in Greymouth.

It comes as the second anniversary looms of the November 19, 2010, explosion that killed 29 men.

Their bodies remain entombed at the West Coast underground coalmine and no-one has been further than 300 metres along its 2.4-kilometre entry tunnel since the disaster.

The spokesman for some of the victims' families, Bernie Monk, said he planned to ask Key to put up money for recovery efforts as promised because the mine's new owner, Solid Energy, had told families it would be unlikely to start before 2014.

Monk, whose son Michael, 23, died in the blast, said experts hired by the families had given the Government a proposed body-recovery plan, including a staged re-entry into the tunnel up to a large rockfall at about 2.1km.

However, Solid Energy's financial woes meant it was unlikely to push ahead with reclaiming the tunnel, the first stage of re-entering the mine's main working section, where the bodies were believed to lie, he said.

"I believe the reason is they're waiting for coal prices to go up. It's not a top priority for them. That's not good enough for us."

Monk said it had been "very convenient" for the Government that the state-owned enterprise had bought the mine.

"The Government can wipe their hands of it," he said.

"Now everything has come to a standstill. We want the Government to come back and finish what they left."

After Key met Pike families in September last year he said the mine's owners could talk to the Government if funding for body recovery was an issue.

Monday 8 October 2012

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/7785613/Tough-questions-on-way-for-Key-on-body-recovery

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20 Die in Accident on Way to Wedding

No fewer than 20 people were reported dead in auto crash yesterday along Kobape-Abeokuta. The accident occurred at Ototo village located between Paramount F.M Radio Station and Police Computer College, Abeokuta around 7.30 a.m.

The accident was reportedly caused by a truck with registration number, Lagos, JJJ 489XB, which allegedly veered off its lane and rammed into a fully loaded Hiace passengers bus conveying the victims.

It was gathered that the victims, all members of the African Church Solution Camp, Ewang Estate, Abeokuta, had left for Lagos to attend a wedding ceremony of one of their members when tragedy struck.

The driver of the truck was said to have lost control and killed the bus passengers. Many of the victims, according to an eye witness account, died on the spot following the impact of the collision, while others died in hospital.

Two infants, including a two-year-old, were said to be among the victims.

An eye witness claimed the survivors were taken to a state hospital for treatment. Ogun State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Ayobami Omiyale, confirmed the accident,but said only nine died.

He however said that sympathisers took some corpses away before rescue team arrived the scene.

Also, the coordinator of the Ogun State traffic management outfit, TRACE, at the scene, Sola Bamidele, said the accident was caused by the truck driver.

Bamidele pointed out that the passengers took off from Abeokuta less than 30 minutes before the auto crash occured.

He added that the body (TRACE) was still trying to get in touch with the transport company which owned the ill-fated bus to get the manifest of the passengers.

When Sunday Vanguard visited the State Hospital Ijaye, where the victims were allegedly taken, worried relations were seen, asking for the victims whereabouts.

A doctor coordinating Ogun State Ambulance Services, Hassan Adelakun, said some of the victims died at the scene of incident while others died at the hospital.

Adelakun added that some of the victims corpses were deposited at State Hospital while others were taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta.

Meanwhile, at the African Church Solution Camp, which the victims attended, members wore a pensive mood when Sunday Vanguard visited the place last night.

Monday 8 October 2012

http://allafrica.com/stories/201210070344.html

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Sudanese military plane crashes near Khartoum

Thirteen Sudanese military personnel died and nine others were injured when their transport plane crashed on its way to conflict-plagued Darfur, the army told official media.

"Thirteen were killed instantly, and nine were taken to hospital," Sawarmi Khalid Saad, the Sudanese army spokesman, was quoted as saying by the state SUNA news agency.

The plane was traveling from Khartoum to El Fasher in the country's strife-torn Darfur region, Khalid told Reuters news agency, adding that the Antonov 12 transport plane was also carrying military equipment.

"The pilot informed the airport that he had a problem with one of his engines," before the plane went down west of Jebel Aulia, Khalid said.

Jebel Aulia is a popular recreational area about one hour's drive from the capital.

There have been several crashes in Sudan in recent years, where years of US sanctions have made it harder for airlines to get spare parts for their fleets.

In August, 32 people including a government minister died when a plane taking them to an Islamic festival in a southern border state crashed. State media blamed that accident on bad weather.

A military helicopter crashed in the country's North Kordofan state in December because of a technical failure, killing six crew members, the military said at the time.

Government forces have been battling an insurgency in Darfur since rebels took up arms in 2003, accusing the central government of neglecting the remote region.

Monday 8 October 2012

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/10/201210791124752382.html

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Bali's worst brought out the best

BALI introduced terrorism to Australians in an unforgettable way. It destroyed the lives of hundreds of families and left the nation numb with shock.

Until October 12, 2002, Australia had been untouched by the violent war being waged by Islamic fundamentalists across the Western world, leaving death and destruction in its wake.

That all changed when two bombs destroyed the Sari Club and Paddy's Pub in the middle of bustling Kuta, which was heaving with partygoers on a steamy Saturday night.

There were 202 people killed, and another 240 were seriously injured. Among the dead were 88 Australians and 34 Indonesians.

The mutilated bodies were taken to a makeshift morgue at Sanglah Hospital in Bali's capital, Denpasar, where they were laid on tiles and grass in an open courtyard.

As the hospital struggled to deal with the wounded, many with horrific burns and missing limbs, volunteers of various nationalities responded to text messages calling for their help.

Most were foreign expatriates living on Bali among them were an art dealer, furniture exporter, teacher, organic farmer, restaurateur and real estate investor.

For the next 72 hours they were plunged into a hellish ordeal as they worked to identify the scorched remains lying in parallel lines in the morgue's courtyard.

With scant official support they established a crisis centre, writing names of the missing or dead on sheets of butcher paper scanned by desperate relatives and friends.

They took photographs of the bodies and any identifying features such as tattoos, jewellery, underwear, T-shirts and watches.

The photographs were printed out and a database was developed with details extracted from charred wallets and purses.

Other volunteers sorted through the remains, placing legs, arms, hands and feet into black plastic bags. The bulging bags were stored in a dilapidated refrigerated truck parked beside the morgue.

In its crowded courtyard, ice from large blocks was chipped and placed on the bodies, many of them headless, as they steadily decomposed in the sweltering heat.

With body bags in limited supply, most were wrapped in sheets, quickly becoming stained as melting ice mixed with blood and other fluids, creating a slippery film across the tiles.

As the Indonesian, Australian and American governments squabbled over who would take jurisdictional control of the bodies and the investigation into those responsible for the bombings, the volunteers at Sanglah Hospital continued their grisly task.

Within 24 hours of the bombings their database had grown to contain more than 150 possible names of those who had been killed.

Relatives and friends of the missing were escorted through the morgue and shown the photos as they searched for their loved ones, many collapsing in grief when their worst fears were realised.

Among them was Adelaide father, John Golotta, who recognised his daughter, Angela, 19, by the pair of underpants she had put on in front of her brother's girlfriend before they went to the Sari Club.

Sturt Football Club stalwart Bob Marshall was identified by his two sons by an amputated finger and a watch he had bought in Bali.

One of his charges, young Sturt footballer Josh Deegan, 19, was found through a credit card in his blackened wallet.

Much has been written and spoken about the victims of the Bali bombings over the past 10 years but very little has been said about the work done by those volunteers at Sanglah Hospital.

Dispatched to the Indonesian island soon after the bombings, I found myself at the hospital as the wounded were still being taken away in ambulances and the bodies carried into the morgue.

I count myself very fortunate that I met these people and for five long and incredibly traumatic days, witnessed first-hand their selfless efforts to help others when the easiest option would have been to walk away.

Having covered the gun massacre at Port Arthur and the Thredbo ski lodge disaster beforehand, I can say with some justification that I have never seen such an incredible group of people perform such difficult tasks in such awful circumstances.

There are hundreds of stories to be told about the Bali bombings and the 10 years which have since passed many of which will never emerge because they are too painful, too traumatic, too sad.

Among them is the plight of the volunteers who worked tirelessly until they were exhausted, emotionally spent and drained of any tears.

What has happened to them or how they have coped is, sadly, something I have no idea about but I often think about them, what they went through and how much they would have suffered, mentally and emotionally.

While all of us who directly experienced the aftermath of Bali have had our own personal struggles, very little has been said about those who responded to those first text messages calling for help.

The psychological toll on them must have been horrendous. Their lives would have been irrevocably changed, damaged and ruined by what they saw and what they did.

As the 10th anniversary of the Bali bombings approaches and we all reflect on our loss, grief, sense of security and place in the world, all I ask is that we take the time to pause and say thanks to the Sanglah Hospital volunteers.

For they were the guardians of 202 poor souls who would have lain in the sun largely uncared for and unwatched until professional help arrived and the long but necessarily tedious process of official identification began.

Sunday 7 October 2012

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/balis-worst-brought-out-the-best/story-fndo471r-1226490142755

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