THE Lagos State government will this morning start the release of 132 bodies of Dana plane crash victims.
The charred bodies are to be given in batches and in alphabetical order from today till Saturday to the families. The identities of the bodies scheduled for release have been pasted at the information centre of the Dana Air Crises Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja.
Families and friends of the victims and representatives of the state government at a meeting yesterday in LASUTH heard that 132 bodies had been fully identified through their DNA samples tested abroad while 16 others have not.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, told The Guardian that the bodies would be released in batches to reduce chaos, “as there are other documents that they are going to fill for legal reasons.”
“These include the issue of next of kin, who authorises releases and the processes of release. We are releasing another 132 bodies now that are fully identified,” Idris said.
Members of the 200 families and friends that attended the meeting were still in mourning mood. Some of them expressed displeasure against state officials, whom they blamed for keeping bodies of the deceased for more than two months after the disaster.
Following the June 3, 2012 plane crash in Iju, Lagos, about 45 bodies were identifiable, 97 burnt beyond recognition and six bags containing body parts were gathered, requiring DNA test overseas.
On why some of the 45 identifiable bodies would not be released, Idris said it was to ensure that they were given to the right families. He noted that there were cases where two families had come forward for the same body.
“Some of the identifiable bodies were wrongly tagged at the crash site, while some tags fell off in the course of taking them to the morgue. So, what we are doing is to reduce the pains that the bereaved families are going through. We gain nothing by keeping the bodies,” he said.
Pathologist and Chief Examiner in the inquest, Prof. John Obafunwa, said the DNA test recorded 88 per cent success rate and the process is still continuing to identify the remaining 16 bodies.
The state government also disclosed that arrangement for the bodies of foreigners on-board the ill-fated plane, would be worked with the relevant embassies.
Information from the Ministry of Justice showed that processes for the issuance of death certificates would begin on Monday. Meanwhile, an Assistant General Manager of Airports Rescue and Fire Fighting Services, Mr. John Ekpe, at the ongoing hearing of Coroner Inquest into the crash, told the court yesterday that they could not access the actual site of the incident immediately because of the crowd.
Ekpe told Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe they had an emergency plan and disaster emergency team but the search and rescue functions outside the airport falls on the National Emergency Agency.
In his testimony before the court, he said the rescue team was at the crash site with two fire trucks and a water tanker before any other agency, but could not access the actual site of the incident because of the crowd.
Another witness, Sanni Enessi, the Chief Fire Fighter Station Commander of the airport, said the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria has a checklist of agencies it calls for emergency plan.
The inquest continues tomorrow with Federal Road Safety Commission, Total Oil, Forte Oil and two other witnesses for appearance.
Friday 10 August
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