DNA lead in search for Anton Hammerl's body

DNA taken from a coffin found in a mass grave in Libya may match that of South African photographer Anton Hammerl, according to a report on Tuesday. As Libya does not have the capacity to do DNA testing, it was understood officials were in the process of sending the genetic material -- from coffin number 57 -- to the headquarters of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia, the Star newspaper reported. Hammerl was covering the conflict in Libya when he was shot by militia loyal to then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi near the town of Brega on April 5 last year. Brigadier Leonie Ras from the SAPS victim identification centre told the daily newspaper that the ICMP was aware of the sample but had not yet received it. Ras was planning to send DNA samples from Hammerl's parents to the ICMP on Tuesday in a bid to compare them with those found in coffin number 57. Dodgy bonuses In other news, Libya's interim authorities...

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Identifying the Titanic’s Victims

For the 328 people whose bodies were recovered at the site of the Titanic disaster, unique fatality reports were created. They speak volumes about those whose bodies were retrieved. From third-class passengers to millionaires, these reports document their lives through what they had on their person that fateful night. Dr. John Henry Barnstead, a Halifax physician, developed the system for identifying Titanic’s dead. He used a numbering system based on the order in which they were retrieved from the ocean. Mortuary bags were used to hold clothing and personal effects found on the body. This system was used again after the 1917 Halifax Explosion and countless times in other disasters with great loss of human life. Using Barnstead’s system as its base, these reports document physical characteristics of bodies (typically sex, age, colouring, any identifying marks) and track potentially identifying papers and items found on their person....

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BENUE: Government plans mass burial for those killed by collapsed church building

The Benue state government on Monday assured the families of those who died in the collapse building of St Roberts Catholic Mission Church, Adambge in Vandekikya local government area of Benue state,...

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