DNA test confirms ID of Tamil Nadu Express fire victim

Hopes of the parents of TN express fire mishap victim Jaswant Singh, 17, of Punjab were shattered after the DNA test carried out at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting Department (CDFD), Hyderabad, recently proved that one of the unclaimed bodies is their biological son. The parents have been searching for him believing that he is alive.

It may be recalled that 28 passengers travelling in S-11 coach of Tamil Nadu Express bound for Chennai were charred to death in a fire mishap soon after the train crossed Nellore railway station during the early hours of July 30 last year.

Railway police have sought DNA test with blood samples of the parents of Jaswant Singh and Avinash. The samples of the parents were compared at CDFD with the tissue and bone samples of two bodies and also with six body pieces recovered from the coach. The samples of the male body tallied with the blood samples of Jaswant Singh parents, Ravinder Singh and Kamaljit Kaur.

Railway DSP of Nellore G. Srinivasa Rao had informed Ravinder Singh about the DNA matching after receiving the report few days ago. Close relatives of the victim Gurudev Singh, Amarik Singh and Manjit Singh came to Nellore on Saturday at the instance of the DSP.

The relatives decided to take Jaswant’s bones collected for DNA test and immerse in a holy river at Shri Kartarpur Sahib in Punjab since last rites were already performed before burying at Nellore. They decided to offer prayers at the graveyard where Jaswant Singh was buried.

Sunday 17 February 2013

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130217/news-current-affairs/article/dna-test-tallied-punjab-boy

Foreign experts to help recover bodies in Semirara

Two foreign experts arrived yesterday in Caluya, Semirara Island in Antique to assist officials of the Semirara Coal and Mining Corp. in the recovery of the bodies of workers trapped in a mining pit during a landslide last Feb. 14.

The foreigners, an American guest instructor and an Australian volunteer, arrived with Broderick Train, officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC), to check on the incident command activation, according to Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., Western Visayas police director.

Cruz said K-9 dogs have marked two areas believed to be where the missing miners were trapped.

“Retrieval operations using backhoes and bulldozers are still on going for the five still missing workers. Five K-9 units are already at Panian pit to assist in locating the victims,” he said.

The bodies of five other victims were recovered shortly after the landslide. Three other workers were rescued and are now at the hospital undergoing treatment.

Cruz said the foreigners would coordinate with other government agencies in the area, while two personnel from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are tasked to conduct an investigation on the incident.

He said Semirara Mayor Genevive Lim-Reyes announced that she would give financial assistance worth P20,000, while the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council would also give P10,000 to affected families.

Police said a mass was held in the area for the safe recovery of the missing workers.

Authorities established a command post on Saturday morning at the barangay hall of Semirara, manned by police personnel led by Senior Police Officer 1 Arturo Diorda, who was assigned to coordinate with the local government of Semirara.

Cruz said Train would take over as incident manager once he arrives at the site.

PNP Caluya and the provincial disaster management council are in the process of gathering information to come up with a comprehensive report on the incident.

Meanwhile, organized labor yesterday called on the government to look for alternative and safer sources of energy instead of using coal in power generation.

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said that the use of coal put the lives of mining workers in danger.

Sunday 17 February 2013

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/02/18/910120/foreign-experts-help-recover-bodies-semirara

At least 10 dead in Indonesia landslides, floods

Landslides and floods triggered by torrential rain in northern Indonesia have killed at least 10 people and sent hundreds fleeing for safe ground.

Disaster official Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says mud and rocks cascaded down hills Sunday in seven sub-districts of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, while more than 1,000 houses were flooded after downpours caused a river to burst its banks.

He says nine bodies were pulled from the mud and wreckage of crumpled homes and another from water.

About 1,200 people fled to temporary shelters.

Rescuers are searching for those who may still be buried beneath mud and rocks. Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Sunday 17 February 2013

Read More at: http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.international/21ea9664-www.wlos.com.shtml#.USD330Fb7jI

Forensic Studies Commence On 154 Skeletal Remains

Forensic studies into the skeletal remains that were exhumed from a mass grave near the Matale Hospital have commenced following the conclusion of excavation work at the gravesite.

Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Dr. Ajith Jayasena said that 154 skeletal remains were exhumed from the mass grave when the excavation work was completed last week.

He explained that although some preliminary tests were conducted on the skeletal remains during the excavation work, the proper forensic analysis would now be carried out with the help of more experts including professionals in conducting dental forensics. “We conducted some preliminary tests due to the fragile state of some of the bones that were exhumed from the grave,” Dr. Jayasena said. When asked if the skeletal remains would be sent overseas for further forensic examinations, he observed that samples have not been sent overseas so far and that it was up to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to organize the funds to send the skeletons overseas.

“I have requested courts to get some dental forensic experts from Colombo to visit Matale to carry out examination work since the bones are too fragile to be sent to Colombo,” Dr. Jayasena added.

According to the JMO, once the period of the skeletal remains are determined, DNA tests would be conducted to identify the dead. Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the Matale mass grave has taken a new twist with the JVP calling on the government to hold a comprehensive inquiry into the largest mass grave to be excavated in the country.

The JVP last week claimed that the preliminary inquiries conducted on the skeletal remains has indicated that they belonged to the period between 1988 and 1989. It was also the period of the JVP insurgency. JVP parliamentary group leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the skeletal remains unearthed from the Matale mass grave belonged to the comrades who were murdered during the height of the insurgency in 1988-89. He pointed out that the preliminary investigations have also revealed that the persons buried in the mass grave have been tortured.

“The investigations on the bones that were uncovered have revealed that some of them have not decayed or broken according to the normal decaying process. Some bones have indicated that they had been broken with the use of force and skulls that have been separated from the rest of the remains have shown that the separation was due to an external force,” Dissanayake explained. Dissnayake added that some persons involved in killings that took place during the 1988-1989 period were now members of the government. However, he urged the government to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the mass grave, reveal those responsible and take action against them.

Saturday 16 February 2013

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/02/17/forensic-studies-commence-on-154-skeletal-remains/