Naivasha hospital: Mortuary to bury unclaimed bodies in 21 days

Public health department in Naivasha has issued a 21-day notice to bury 35 unclaimed bodies lying at the Naivasha district hospital mortuary.

The department called on members of the public whose kin had been missing to check with the hospital before the bodies are disposed.

Issuing the notice, Naivasha district public health officer Mr Samuel King’ori noted that some of bodies were badly decomposed.

King’ori said that the bodies had exceeded the required 21 days in the mortuary and hence the move to dispose them.

“The hospital hereby issues a twenty one day notice for the bodies to be claimed failure to which they will be buried in a mass grave at the municipal cemetery,” reads the notice in part.

Among the bodies set for disposal are 12 minors below four years who had died in the hospital.

King’ori expressed his concern over the high number of relatives abandoning their kin in the hospital once they died.

“Majority of the minors died in the hospital wards and their relatives decided to abandon them and hence the crisis,” he noted.

The superintendent in charge of the hospital Dr Joseph Mburu confirmed the crisis in the mortuary.

He said that services in the facility whose capacity is twelve bodies were overstretched and hence the move to dispose the bodies.

Mburu however noted that one of the bodies had been identified, collected and buried by relatives.

“The hospital currently has over fifty bodies against a capacity of twelve and this is affecting our services,” he said.

The doctor noted with concern over certain communities that were abandoning their babies in the hospital wards whenever they passed on.

“We have come to realize that some communities do not bury their minors and have been abandoning them in the hospital,” he noted.

He said the bodies are taking their toll on the hospital's budget as the number increases by the day. Mburu said the mortuary capacity is 12 but they currently have about 50 bodies.

“We have issued a notice through the courts to bury the 26 unclaimed bodies, which have been in the mortuary for more than three months,” he said.

hospital superintendent Dr Joseph Mburu said majority of the unclaimed bodies were brought in by police who had collected them from accident scenes and other areas.

He said the hospital has the highest number of unclaimed bodies in Kenya. The doctor said there is an urgent need to open a council mortuary in the town to deal with the high number of unclaimed bodies.

He said that a council mortuary constructed by an investor in the 1990s needs to be refurbished as it had been vandalised.

He said the hospital has the highest number of unclaimed bodies in Kenya. The doctor said there is an urgent need to open a council mortuary in the town to deal with the high number of unclaimed bodies.

He said that a council mortuary constructed by an investor in the 1990s needs to be refurbished as it had been vandalised.

Thursday 07 November 2013

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-142709/naivasha-hospital-bury-unclaimed-dead

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000065434&story_title=Kenya:%20Mortuary%20to%20bury%20unclaimed%20bodies%20in%2021%20days

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Man who lived his life dedicated to ensuring a dignified burial for unclaimed bodies in Chennai dies in hospital

M.S. Sivakumar, who helped trace families of abandoned patients and helped orphans in hospital, died at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH) on Wednesday.

It can only be tragic irony that a man who lived his life dedicated to ensuring a dignified burial for unclaimed bodies, died all alone in a ward at a government hospital.

On Tuesday, the 56-year-old was found lying unconscious beside his two-wheeler on EVR Periyar Salai opposite Central Station near Buhari Hotel. He had sustained a head injury.

Some passers-by and police who recognised him, admitted him to GH. An MRI and CT scan revealed a severe head injury. On Tuesday night, he underwent surgery.

However, around 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday, doctors declared him dead.

When the Thane cyclone struck in 2012 and six sailors went missing, Mr. Sivakumar was one of the few people who rushed to help the families in distress.

Mr. Sivakumar drove from one hospital to the other, offering his services. The helpful social worker, clad in white, would frequent government hospital mortuaries, police stations and the courts. He regularly petitioned the Madras High Court for dignified burials of unclaimed bodies.

Mr. Sivakumar had been honoured by GH several years ago for his services, at a function organised by the surgical gastroenterology department.

The hospital’s resident medical officer (RMO) Anand Pratap was among those who visited him soon after his admission.

“He would take possession of unclaimed bodies for burial and would ensure that orphans who come to the hospital for treatment were admitted to orphanages. He was of great help in tracing relatives of patients who were abandoned at the hospital,” Dr. Pratap said.

In September, Mr. Sivakumar helped trace the family of an Assamese man who was found unconscious in the yard of Egmore railway station. After the man died at the hospital, Mr. Sivakumar traced his family based on a photocopy of a bank passbook found on the man.

However, on Wednesday when he died, there was no one at Mr. Sivakumar’s side. “It was sad that he became an orphan himself today,” the RMO said.

Mr. Sivakumar is a native of Ayalur village in Palakkad and used to take up documentation work in the real estate sector, according to his friend P.T. Ali.

K. Narayanan, who had known Mr. Sivakumar for the past year said he was taking care of his ailing elder sister who lived in Ayanavaram. Mr. Ali said he later traced and informed Mr. Sivakumar's family, who live in Thrissur, Kerala.

Thursday 07 November 2013



http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/man-who-helped-families-in-need-dies-alone-in-chennai/article5322779.ece

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Zimbabwe: Four Chisumbanje inferno victims identified

Relatives of 17 unidentified victims that were badly burnt in the Chisumbanje ethanol tanker accident have managed to identify four of the bodies.

Acting Manicaland traffic co-ordinator, Chief Inspector Cyprian Mukahanana said the bodies were positively identified before experts did DNA profiling at Mutare Provincial Hospital.

He said tests have been carried out on the remaining 13 bodies.

Relatives who were taken blood samples for matching with the corpses said they will know the results in the next six weeks.

Police will reveal names of those identified soon.

Thursday 07 November 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201311070211.html

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Mahbubnagar bus fire: APFSL runs out of DNA kits

After dealing with identification of the Mahbubnagar bus inferno victims, the AP Forensic Science Laboratories (APFSL) has run out of DNA kits to tackle any immediate eventuality. Realising this, the government has permitted the APFSL to procure 10 new DNA kits at a cost of Rs 40 lakhs.

According to APFSL officials, till now 34 bodies have been identified and eight more are to be identified.

"Considering the gravity of the situation, we have invested all available resources and completed DNA profiling of 34 passengers who died in the mishap. In the remaining eight cases, DNA profiling of six bodies will be completed by Wednesday evening, while in the other two cases, the family members concerned are yet to give their blood samples,'' APFSL in-charge director Sharada told TOI.

Though 45 persons, including a baby, died aboard the bus on the fateful day, three victims were identified at the scene of accident and the remaining 42 bodies were preserved since a decision was taken to conduct DNA profiling before the remains were to be handed over to the families concerned.

"In the case of two bodies, blood samples of kin are yet to be collected. In one case, we wanted the victim's daughter and husband to come to the lab so that the daughter's DNA profiling can be matched with her mother and her father. In the other case, we want the parents to come instead of the victim's siblings,'' officials said

As of now, the APFSL has six DNA kits. With the identification process of 34 bodies completed, the officials were confident that they could manage to profile the remaining eight bodies with the available kits. However, they were worried about the future requirements since DNA profiling in criminal cases from across the state land at the APFSL.

The internal parts of the most of the Volvo mishap victims were reduced to ashes and drawing tissues turned out to be a tough task. Generally, in other cases the officials of APFSL take around 20 days to conclude profiling of the victim, but in this case they completed it in just five days.

Meanwhile, forensic officials ruled out existence of firecrackers and other combustible material in the bus at the time of the accident. Sources said that fire was triggered after diesel tank hit a culvert and immediately luggage inside the bus, kept in an exclusive luggage slot near the fuel tank caught fire, and later spread to the entire bus, killing 45 people and injuring seven others.

Wednesday 06 November 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/APFSL-runs-out-of-DNA-kits/articleshow/25290124.cms

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Mass grave in Bosnia 'could be the largest' from 1990s

A group dedicated to finding the bodies of those who've disappeared during armed conflict says a mass grave it's excavating in Bosnia could be the largest from the war there in the 1990s.

The International Commission on Missing Persons says there could be up to 600 people buried at the site.

The Commission's Adam Boys says almost 250 complete bodies and 110 body parts have already been removed from a primary grave at the site, near the village of Tomasica.

The remains discovered so far are yet to be accurately identified.

Mr Boys says the grave forms part of the criminal prosecution against Ratko Mladic, the general in charge of the Bosnian-Serb army during the conflict.

He told Ildi Amon, it is extremely difficult work for those doing the excavations, because the remains are very well-preserved.

Wednesday 06 November 2013

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/11/06/mass-grave-bosnia-could-be-largest-1990s

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Israel conducts DNA tests to identify Palestinian fighters

Israel has completed DNA tests to identify the bodies of 36 Palestinian fighters held in Israeli custody, a spokesperson from a campaign to retrieve the bodies said.

Salim Khilla from the Palestinian national campaign to restore martyrs bodies told Ma'an Tuesday that relatives of the fighters traveled to the Tayba crossing in Tulkarem to give DNA samples which Israel will match with the remains of the bodies it holds in custody.

The results will be announced in two to eight weeks, at which point Israel is expected to return the fighters in groups.

In August, the Palestinian Authority refused to receive the remains of Palestinian fighters held by Israel because its request for DNA testing was denied.

Since the 1960s, Israel has withheld the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians, interred in numbered, rather than named, graves in a cemetery in the occupied West Bank's Jordan Valley.

The PA is aware of at least 288 Palestinian bodies being held by Israel, Khilla said, despite Israel claiming it only has 80 bodies.

Wednesday 06 November 2013

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=644555

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Mahabubnagar bus tragedy: 15 more bodies identified by DNA

The identification of Palem bus accident victims picked up momentum with the help of DNA profiling as most of the 42 remains were identified except eight as on Tuesday.

“The remaining eight bodies, including four in which finding a DNA containing tissue is proving impossible, will also be matched to their blood relatives and will be handed over, completing the whole process,” said Mahabubnagar DRDA Project Director Chandrasekhar.

All of the 19 bodies, except two, identified on Monday have been handed over to their kin on Tuesday. Relatives of the four victims from Karnataka out of the 19 identified have also claimed the bodies.

However, the kin of the victims who expected some announcement on ex-gratia from Andhra Pradesh government were left disappointed. “We demand Rs 20 lakh ex-gratia as we have lost an earning member of our family with bright future. They should also give a government job to an eligible person in his immediate family,” Adari Krishna, a victim's father, said.

As many as 45 persons perished in the accident that occurred on October 30 in Palem of Mahbubnagar district. Three bodies were identified on the first day and were handed over to the relatives. Another 19 were identified on Monday and 15 on Tuesday taking the total of identified persons to 37.

Meanwhile, the CLUES team of AP police in its report to SP of Mahbubnagar district ruled out any sabotage and also any presence of crackers in the bus. However, the investigators felt that the accident occurred as the driver rammed the bus to the peculiar culvert wall on the right side of the bus, resulting in the bursting of fuel tank.

As the luggage section, which caught fire, was under the seats the driver might have failed to notice it spreading upwards.

Wednesday 06 November 2013

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/367245/bus-inferno-15-more-victims.html

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Japan: Dentist helps identify mudslide victims

After typhoon-triggered mudslides hit Tokyo’s Izu Oshima island last month, a local dentist is striving to bring victims back to their families by identifying the bodies with his forensic dentistry expertise.

The Metropolitan Police Department has dispatched coroners to the island for body identification. Records at a local dental clinic have contributed to the work.

“I can recognize my patients by looking at their teeth,” said Ayumu Okayama, who operates a dental clinic in the town of Oshima hit hard by Typhoon No. 26 in mid-October.

A native of Nerima Ward, Tokyo, the 52-year-old Okayama opened the clinic 20 years ago in the town where his grandmother lived. An average of 20 patients visit his clinic a day, and he has examined more than 5,000 people on the island so far.

On Oct. 17, a day after the mudslides occurred, Okayama was asked to help identify the body of a man. He received a phone call from the son of a patient, who had visited his clinic for treatment until September. The son asked Okayama, “As my father received treatment at your clinic, could you identify his body? ”

Okayama then went to the morgue and saw the victim’s face, which looked just how it was when the man was alive. The man still had a gentle expression on his face that he always wore.

“The victim’s family could have recognized him immediately, but I think they didn’t want to believe it was him,” Okayama said.

After conducting dental identification, he told the family, “[The victim] must be him.” The bereaved family then thanked Okayama and bowed deeply.

Two days later, Okayama carried out another dental identification on a female victim at the request of the MPD. Just by looking at her teeth, he knew the victim was one of his patients.

“Dentists have their own ways of drilling and filling, so we recognize people we’ve worked on,” he said.

After referring to his office’s dental records, it was confirmed that the victim’s teeth matched those of a patient he examined several years ago.

“Dentists should not only fix teeth, but also face their patients, even after their death,” Okayama said.

When he was a dental university student, Okayama joined a team to carry out dental identification on victims of the crash of a Japan Airlines jet in 1985 upon the request of an acquaintance who is also a dentist and went to the same university. He climbed Mt. Osutaka in Gunma Prefecture to reach the crash site, where he checked the victims’ teeth with dental records. The bodies of the victims were unrecognizable, making teeth the key to identifying the victims. Okayama said helping to identify victims of the mudslides in Oshima reminds him of his experience on Mt. Osutaka.

Six of those who were killed by the mudslides, or went missing, are his patients.

“I have been able to work as a dentist thanks to support from residents of the island,” Okayama said. “I want [the victims] to be returned to their families as soon as possible.”

Wednesday 06 November 2013

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000763015

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Nine people feared dead as landslide hits Papua New Guinea

Nine people were feared dead Monday after a landslide tore through a village in Papua New Guinea's rugged Highlands region burying homes, reports said.

Villagers were sleeping when the massive slip of earth, trees and debris crashed down a mountain side on Saturday night onto Kenagi village on the border of Eastern Highlands province, the Post Courier newspaper said.

Local councillor David Nondo said one body, of a 10-year-old boy, had been recovered but it would take days to dig up the dead from the landslide which cut the crucial Highlands Highway.

"The area is now a burial ground and we do not want people passing through at will," Nondo told the paper.

"This means nothing -- trucks, buses and passengers -- is allowed to go into or drive over the area on the highway."

The Post-Courier said eight houses were buried, with three people rushed to hospital in serious conditions after being injured in the accident.

Provincial Police Commander John Kale told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that heavy rain appeared to have caused the disaster, which was followed by a second collapse on Sunday morning.

"There is a very big landslide starting from the top of the mountain past the road and all the way down to the river," he said.

Torrential rains have caused landslips in the Eastern Highlands before, with at least seven people killed in 2009 when one engulfed two buses and three houses.

In January 2012, as many as 60 people died when a massive landslide wiped out an entire village in the Southern Highlands.

Tuesday 05 November 2013

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/19677680/png-landslide-kills-nine/

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Bus accident in Sri Lanka leaves 10 dead

Adding to the list of bus tragedies, yet another bus plunged down a cliff in Sri Lanka, killing 10 and injuring many others.

At least 10 people were killed and 18 others injured when a bus skidded off a road and plunged down a cliff in central Sri Lanka, police said on Tuesday.

According to a police statement the bus from a state-owned company was travelling along a mountain road in the central hill town of Bandarawela when it veered off the road and fell down a 350-foot precipice on Monday night.

Five women and five men were killed, while the 18 injured included the driver and the conductor, the statement said. Investigations are on to find the cause of the crash.

Rescue operations were hampered by heavy rain and poor visibility.

Tuesday 05 November 2013

http://news.oneindia.in/international/sri-lanka-bus-falls-from-cliff-10-killed-several-injured-1335995.html

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No sign of more survivors in Myanmar boat sinking

Family members are scouring the coastline off western Myanmar a day after a boat carrying at least 70 Muslim Rohingya capsized. Only eight people are believed to have survived.

The overloaded boat was in the Bay of Bengal and headed for Bangladesh when it sank early Sunday, just four hours into the journey.

Community leader Aung Win says many women and children were on board and were hoping to reach third countries.

He says there were no new reports of survivors Monday. Only a few bodies have been recovered.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been gripped by sectarian violence in the last year. Many of the 240 people killed and 240,000 others forced to flee their homes have been Rohingya.

Aid agencies have warned of a growing exodus of Rohingyas, who have been displaced by communal violence, attempting the dangerous sea journey.

The boat was thought to be bound for Malaysia, where thousands of Rohingyas have sought sanctuary since violent clashes with Buddhists erupted last year.

Over the past two years, hundreds of thousands of minority Muslims have been forced to flee Burma.

The United Nations describes them as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma.

The Burmese government, on the other hand, says they are relatively recent migrants from the Indian sub-continent.

Neighbouring Bangladesh already hosts several hundred thousand refugees from Burma and says it cannot take any more.

Many Rohingya Muslims are living in tents or temporary camps.

Aid agencies say the relentlessly grim conditions will push record numbers out to sea, in flimsy boats, where they are very vulnerable to bad weather, engine failure, or being sold by people-traffickers in Thailand.

The United Nations said on Friday that more than 1,500 people have tried to leave by boat in the past week.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says Burmese authorities have done little to improve the situation of the Rohingyas, despite repeated international appeals.

They are still subjected to forced segregation, denied access to schools and hospitals, and barred from travelling or having more than two children without permission, our correspondent says.

Rohingyas, whom the UN describes as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma, are not recognised as Burmese citizens.

Tuesday 05 November 2013

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/nov/05/as-myanmar-boat-capsize/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24798448

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Sailors from North Korea die in sinking

A number of North Korean sailors were killed when a warship sank during “combat duties” last month, a state newspaper has reported in an unusual admission by the secretive state.

South Korean media said the ship sank during a drill, and North Korea's KCNA state news agency showed images of leader Kim Jong Un laying flowers at the foot of a memorial to the dead.

"Submarine chaser No 233 fell while performing combat duties in mid-October," KCNA said.

The article did not specify what operation it was undertaking. Information in North Korea is strictly controlled, and accidents are rarely publicly admitted or closely covered by state media.

The country's official media did not say how many died in the accident, but said Mr Kim had ordered "measures to find all their bodies", suggesting a high death doll.

The North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun gave no figures for the number of dead. But photographs of gravestones in Saturday’s website edition suggested about 15-20 may have died.

The paper showed solemn-faced leader Kim Jong-Un laying flowers at a cemetery specially created for victims of the incident, who “met heroic deaths while performing their combat duties”.

The report gave no details of how the sailors on a ship identified as “submarine chaser no. 233” had died. It did not say where the cemetery was located.

After hearing of the incident, Kim ordered a search to retrieve all the bodies and gave detailed instructions on construction of the cemetery and gravestones, the paper said.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Monday that two North Korean warships sank last month during an exercise off the eastern port of Wonsan, killing scores of sailors.

Quoting a military source, it said the ships were a Hainan-class 375-ton submarine chaser and a 100 to 200-ton patrol boat.

“The Hainan-class submarine chaser probably sank because it’s old. It was built in China in the 1960s and the North bought it in the mid-70s,” the source was quoted as saying.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the Korean conflict ended in an armistice in 1953.

While the North’s military totals more than one million personnel, much of its equipment is aging.

Seoul accused Pyongyang of sending a submarine to sink a South Korean warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.

Tuesday 05 November 2013

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/sailors-from-north-korea-die-in-sinking.22602449

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131104/DEFREG03/311040016/North-Korean-Reports-Warship-Sank-Number-Dead-Unknown?odyssey=nav|head

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12 dead in Colombia bus accident

Twelve people were killed and 35 others injured Monday when a bus ran off the road and plunged 80 meters (262 feet) to the bottom of a ravine in southwestern Colombia, authorities said.

The vehicle was traveling along a highway between the towns of Toribio and Jambalo in Cauca province.

“The bus left Jambalo with at least 45 people, the majority of them Indians, who had participated in the festivities taking place here,” the town’s mayor, Silvio Dagua, told reporters.

Cauca Highway Police commander Maj. Richard Sanabria said that the injured were taken to several hospitals, some of them in Popayan, the regional capital.

Terrain difficulties and bad weather in the region have made the recovery of the bodies difficult, the police chief said.

“There are (groups) from Toribio and Jambalo trying to recover the bodies. We’re waiting for the weather to improve to perform an overflight and decide how to proceed,” Sanabria said.

Over the weekend there were two accidents with similar characteristics, the first in the northwestern province of Antioquia which left five people dead and 25 injured, and the other in the central region of Tolima which left four dead and 30 injured.

Tuesday 05 November 2013

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=1148519&CategoryId=12393

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Eight killed, many injured in Bolivian plane crash

A Bolivian plane has crashed in the north of the Andean country, killing eight people and injuring 10 others onboard, a media report says.

The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner aircraft operated by local carrier Aerocon caught fire when it tried to land in Riberalta in Bolivia’s Beni Department, near the Brazilian border, due to heavy rain on Sunday, Reuters reported.

“(There were) 16 passengers and the pilot and co-pilot, of whom 10 survived and eight died,” the director of the Riberalta hospital, Jose Luis Pereira, told reporters, adding, “The pilot and the co-pilot are in the gravest situation.... Seven (bodies) are (so) charred, we can't identify them.”

The small turboprop plane was carrying 18 people onboard when it departed from Beni’s capital city of Trinidad.

The Bolivian airline reported technical problems were to blame.

Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered “a deep investigation” into the accident and “drastic sanctions on the company.”

The latest incident follows another plane crash in the central South American country, when in 2011 four anti-drug UN workers and two Bolivian military pilots were killed after their plane crashed into a tree in a forest in western Bolivia.

Tuesday 5 November 2013

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/11/04/332936/eight-killed-in-bolivian-plane-crash/

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19 Volvo bus accident victims identified

Nineteen of the 45 victims of the Volvo bus tragedy at Palem in Mahabubnagar district were identified with the help of DNA fingerprinting by the experts of Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory here on Monday.

Three of the 19 identified bodies were handed over to their respective families at Osmania General Hospital morgue. Officials said 16 more victims would be identified by Tuesday morning. So far, identity of 22 victims was established.

On the day of the accident, three victims were identified. Their bodies were given to their respective families the same day.

Wanparthy DSP B. Srinivas Reddy said all documents required for filing petitions in the court for compensation would be given to the kin of the victims.

Copies of the documents include First Information Report (FIR), inquest report, bus registration certificate, permit, insurance certificate and lease agreement of the transport operator.

Monday 04 November 2013

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/19-volvo-bus-accident-victims-identified/article5314623.ece?homepage=true

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Google Earth captures picture of world's most remote memorial: Incredible picture of 200ft African desert memorial for the 170 victims of a 1989 plane crash

The least accessible memorial in the world, built to remember 170 people who died when a plane blew up over the Sahara desert in 1989, can be seen on Google Earth and Google Maps.

UTA Flight 772 was flying from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo to Paris CDG Airport in France on September 19, 1989, when a bomb went off in the luggage compartment.

The blast resulted in the plane tearing apart mid-air, killing everyone on board - including Bonnie Barnes Pugh, wife of the U.S. Ambassador to Chad.



Evidence traced the bomb back to Libya.

The Libyan motive was said to be revenge on the French government for supporting Chad in a border dispute with Libya.

Eventually a special court in Paris found six Libyans guilty. They were not in court themselves because Libya refused to hand them over.

Despite 170 people losing their lives, the event became known as the forgotten flight.

But 18-years later, families of those who perished gathered at the crash site where they built a memorial to remember their loved ones.

Due to the remoteness of desert location, pieces of the plane were still at the site when the families arrived.

The memorial itself was created by Les Familles de l’Attentat du DC-10 d’UTA, an association of the victims’ families along with the help of local inhabitants.



Despite being one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, the memorial was built by hand and was created using dark stones which created a 200ft diameter circle.

The stones had to be transported more than 70miles across the desert for the memorial which took two months to build in May and June 2007.

One hundred and seventy broken mirrors were places around the memorial to represent each victim of the crash.

The main part of the memorial is actually held up by the starboard wing of the aircraft which was transported from 10 miles away. It had to be dug up and emptied of sand.

It was partly funded by compensation worth £106million which was paid out by the Libyan government. The memorial can now be seen on Google Earth and Google Maps.

Monday 04 November 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487064/Incredible-Google-Earth-image-1989-UTA-plane-crash-memorial.html

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Chisumbanje ethanol tanker explosion: DNA tests for 17 unidentified victims

Government has approached a private forensic laboratory to have DNA profiling done on 17 unidentified bodies from the Chisumbanje ethanol tanker explosion. Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa yesterday said he would meet representatives from the laboratory today. "We have a private DNA forensic outfit in the country and they are going to assist us on this particular case," he said.

"I will be engaging them tomorrow and we hope that they will assist us to identify the bodies," Dr Parirenyatwa said.

National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said the DNA tests would be conducted by a team of local medical experts.

"I can confirm that the DNA tests would be conducted by a team of medical experts in the country," he said.

African Institute of Biomedical Science Technology (AiBST) founder Professor Collen Masimirembwa is leading the experts.

Chipinge District Administrator Mr Edgar Seenza yesterday said relatives had been asked to go back to their homes and would be advised about the developments today.

The remains of the victims were still at Chipinge District Hospital.

Last Friday, relatives of the 17 asked Government for mass burial after they disagreed on the identities of the bodies.

They changed tack over the weekend in the wake of our story on Saturday proposing DNA profiling.

The 25th body belonged to Clifford Muyambo who died on Monday and was being transported to his village for burial when a Mazda T35 truck ferrying mourners collided head-on with the tanker, resulting in the inferno.

Muyambo's body was also burnt in the fire.

Mr Seenza said the other eight bodies had been identified and had been collected for burial.

He said families of the unidentified bodies had approached him demanding that the mass burial be carried out immediately since they were finding it difficult to identify their relatives.

Monday 04 November 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201311041951.html

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Dhaka’s killing fields

Following a nine-month-long bloody war, just a day after the victory of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, hundreds of relatives and well-wishers of abducted intellectuals were searching for their near ones who had been abducted and killed by the Pakistani occupation army and its local collaborators - al-Badr, al-Shams and razakars.

Following information from different sources, they had rushed to all the spots where bodies of the martyred intellectuals and other people were dumped. They discovered the Rayerbazar mass killing field, on the outskirts of Dhaka where bodies of people from all phases, particularly the intellectuals, had been found.

In Rayerbazar, a three kilometre stretch of road was filled with bodies and the air was filled with the smell of decomposing bodies. At the marshland and brickyard, relatives found many blindfolded bodies having signs of handcuff injuries along with gunshot and bayonet wounds in their chests and heads, say news reports and historical books.

The relatives had been busy identifying the persons by checking their clothes, ornaments and other signs in the decayed bodies.

Families of Dr Mohammad Fazle Rabbee, a physician at Dhaka Medical College (need to confirm) who had opened a secret hospital for wounded freedom fighters, identified his body, which bore signs of brutality including bullets in the chest and forehead. The physician, who had been abducted by al-Badr members from his house at 15 Shiddheshwari, was dumped at the spot, reads the book “Ekattorer Bodyhobhumi O Gonokobor,” (killing grounds and mass graves of 1971) written by Shukumar Bishwas.

Dr Rabbee (also spelled Rabbi) was one of the several brainchildren of the country, who had been killed between December 10 and 16, just before the dawn of Bangladesh, by collaborators of the Pakistani occupation army like Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman, “operation in-charge” and “chief executor” of the para-military force (can we say that now? Let’s wait for the verdict).

During the Liberation War, Mueen Uddin, Ashraf and their fellows played the central role behind the killing of intellectuals of the country, mainly the teachers, doctors, journalists and writers with an intention to cripple the nation intellectually.

Among the victims of their brutality, only a few had been identified while many remain unidentified since the bodies were too decomposed to be traced.

Of the bodies, only those of Prof Munier Chowdhury, journalist Selina Pervin, and Dr Rabbee had been identified by their relatives, according to the book.

Moreover, the bodies of Prof Abul Kalam Azad and Dr Abul Khayer were also identified from the spot later, according to a news report printed in The Observer on December 19, 1971.

There are several hundred mass killing fields across the country, but the Rayerbazar mass killing field and several places in the Mirpur area are the most familiar names in the capital where the noted intellectuals were killed and their bodies left by the Pakistani Army and its collaborators who came from right-wing fanatic parties, particularly the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The Harirampur mass killing field near Mirpur also has signs of murdered intellectuals. Four bodies had been recovered from a hole at the area. They are Dr Serajul Haque Khan and Dr NAM Foyzul Mohiuddin, teachers at Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research; history teacher Santosh Bhattacharjee; and university physician Dr Md Mortuza, according to a report published in the daily Dainik Bangla on January 5, 1972.

From another nearby hole, police and families identified three decomposed bodies which belonged ro Dhaka University history teacher Dr M Abul Khayer, English teacher Rashidul Hasan, and noted author Anwar Pasha, says the book “Ekattorer Bodhyobhumi o Gonokobor” quoting news reports.

The bodies of many martyred intellectuals could not be found until date. They are executive editor of Daily Ittefaq Sirajuddin Hossain, joint news editor of daily Sangbad Shahidullah Kaiser; Nijam Uddin Ahmed, former chief (is something missing here???) and Syed Nazmul Huq, chief reporter of PPI, SA Mannan of the daily Observer, ANM Golam Mustafa from the daily Purbadesh, Dhaka University history teacher Prof Gias Uddin Ahmed and Bangla’s Prof Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, say historical books and media reports.

To hold the memories of martyred intellectuals, two monuments were established in Dhaka so far – at Rayerbazar and Mirpur.

Following a proposal from Projonmo ‘71, an organisation for the children of martyrs of the Liberation War, a temporary foundation was first laid at Rayerbazar in 1991. The complete structure, which was is the result of a number of renovations, has a broken wall with black tombs. (Monument descriptions need to be clear)

The Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals Memorial was first built on December 22, 1972, and it has witnessed many renovations until date. It was constructed on a land of about 100 acres, where a triangular structure of red bricks, erected by an altar made of black granite and a foundation plaque of marble is made as the main structure.

Monday 04 November 2013

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/nov/04/dhaka%E2%80%99s-killing-fields-where-their-bodies-were-dumped

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Bangladesh factory collapse: 165 still unidentified

Authorities have failed to identify the final 165 victims of Bangladesh's Rana Plaza factory collapse, an official said on Monday, meaning their families still cannot be compensated six months after the disaster.

DNA samples were not properly collected from the bodies after the collapse that killed 1 135 people in one of the world's worst industrial accidents and highlighted appalling safety standards in the industry.

The identity of 322 people could not be immediately confirmed after the crumbling of the complex outside Dhaka, where workers stitched clothes for top Western retailers.

Their bodies were too badly damaged after the nine-storey building came down, trapping many under pancaked floors.

With bodies decomposing and fears of an outbreak of disease, officials buried them in a state graveyard in Dhaka after taking DNA samples for eventual identification.

“Of the 322 people, we have now identified 157 victims by matching their DNA samples with their parents, siblings and children,” said Sharif Akhteruzzaman, head of the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory.

The laboratory has handed over a list to the prime minister's office, making their families eligible for compensation, he told AFP.

The laboratory would now try to re-analyse DNA samples of the remaining 165 victims, but Akhteruzzaman said he was sceptical of success since samples from bones and teeth were not properly taken.

“The quality of their DNA samples is substandard. It's going to be an extremely tough job to re-analyse the remaining 165 people,” he said, adding the lab was now using software supplied by the US government.

Bangladeshi and international labour unions have strongly criticised the government, factory owners and Western retailers for not swiftly and adequately compensating victims and their families.

The government has said it has paid some money to families of around 800 victims, which includes about 40 survivors who lost limbs in the tragedy.

But authorities have held back compensating the rest, citing a lack of identification, a task made more difficult by inadequate payroll lists kept by factory managers.

The government's top labour official said on Monday that families of those now identified would be compensated very soon.

“We'll identify the rightful beneficiaries of these 157 people as soon as possible and then compensate them,” Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar told AFP

Monday 04 November 2013

http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/factory-collapse-165-still-unidentified-1.1601773#.UnfPdndkHt4

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Pattya Ferry update: 6 bodies found so far with more than 10 still missing

A ferry boat by the name of “Koh Lan Travel” sank off Pukhet island while carrying more than 200 passengers back from Koh Lan. Six bodies have reportedly been found so far -- 3 foreigners and 3 Thai nationals-- with 16 injuries.

A survivor recounted that after just 15 minutes departing from Koh Lan, a popular small island off the coast of Pattaya, the ferry boat suddenly stopped moving. Not long after the captain announced that the boat was out of fuel, water started gushing in from the bottom of the hull.

The cause of the incident was suspected to be a malfunction of the water pump on the ferry.

The injured victims have been taken to Pattaya Memorial Hospital. Divers still continue to search the boat and waters for more missing bodies.

Monday 04 November 2013

http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5611040010002

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