Genting bus crash: A day rescuers would rather forget

For the men of the Fire and Rescue Service Department, the rescue mission in Genting Highlands is one that they would rather forget.

For fireman Abdul Malik Mohd Jan, 60, who is retiring this year, it was one of the worst scenes he had ever encountered.

Based at the Hang Tuah fire station for 40 years, he said: “I don’t want to speculate, but I guess it’s fated that this accident was meant to happen,” adding that his main priority was to search for survivors.

Abdul Malik said the crash site was a horrendous scene of splattered blood and bodies mangled beyond description.

A rescuer from the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), who declined to be named, said he had never seen carnage on such a scale.

The rescuer, who has been with Smart since 2002, said that while he was used to seeing gory situations at accident sites, this is by far the most tragic accident site he has ever worked on.

“Most of us are upset with the incident, and this is definitely one of worst crashes recorded in Malaysia’s history,”

Describing the scene when he first arrived at 2.30pm, Civil Defence Department (JPAM) officer Mohd Safari Nasaruddin, 29, said there was pandemonium with scores of curious motorists stopping their vehicles to gawk at the crash site.

“We had to move fast to cordon off the area and assist in setting up rescue equipment.

“It was a race to find the survivors because we all knew time was running out.

“It was the first time I’ve seen so many bodies and I couldn’t stop to think about it,” said Safari, who is attached to the Bentong JPAM.

A total of 456 personnel were involved in rescue and body recovery operations at the crash site.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/22/A-day-rescuers-would-rather-forget-Responders-face-most-tragic-accident-site-ever.aspx

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Hidden grave may hold clues to missing Mexican youths

A clandestine mass grave found near Mexico City may hold the answer to what befell 12 youths who were kidnapped from a bar in the capital back in May.

Federal investigators swarmed a ranch east of Mexico City on Thursday, where they confirmed that at least seven bodies had been found, and that two arrests were made near the location.

A lawyer representing the families of five of the missing, however, told CNN Mexico that he received a call from a source who said the bodies of the youths may be found there. The lawyer did not reveal his source.

The apparent kidnapping of the 12 youths from an after-hours club called Heavens shocked residents of Mexico City, who for the most part have been spared from the violence seen in other areas.

The lawyer, Ricardo Martinez, said his source told him there were 13 bodies found at the ranch, possibly in two mass graves, one that held the remains of the males, and the other, the females.

Mexico City's attorney general on Thursday said there was one grave so far that was being investigated.

Officials have not confirmed the identities of the bodies, and CNN could not independently confirm the claims of the attorney. Martinez said that a suspect in the disappearance of the youths led authorities to the ranch.

Mexico City Attorney General Rodolfo Rios said investigators were taking DNA samples to identify the remains, which could take several days.

The site where the bodies are found is the town of Tlalmanalco, in the state of Mexico, about 30 miles east of Mexico City, the state-run Notimex news agency reported.

Local, state and federal police were all at the scene.

A gang was involved in the mass disappearance, officials have said.

The May 26 incident at the after-hours bar jolted the capital city, given it took place in daylight on a Sunday morning.

Video footage shows a gang of about 17 people arriving in eight vehicles at the fashionable Zona Rosa district, according to authorities.

The owner of the bar, a co-owner and two bar employees have been arrested in the case.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/22/world/americas/mexico-bodies-found/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

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Genting bus crash: Search and rescue restarts amid claims from relatives that family members are still missing

Search and rescue efforts have been restarted following claims from relatives that family members are still missing.

Bentong Deputy OCPD Deputy Supt Wan Azharuddin Wan Ismail said a total of 21 personnel from the Police General Operations Force (PGA) Battalion 4 and Battalion 7 and Fire and Rescue have rappelled down the 200ft slope to search for more victims at around 9.45am.

"We have reports from relatives who could not contact their loved ones.

"The search and rescue efforts will continue until we are satisfied that there are no more victims," he told reporters at the site of the accident on Thursday.

He added that the search team would also be looking out to recover identification documents or valuables from the wreckage.

"22 bodies have yet to be identified and we hope to retrieve documents that may help to identify them," he said.

DSP Wan Azharuddin said once the personnel conclude their operations, a briefing would be held to determine when the wrecked bus could be hoisted up.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros) deployed a remote controlled hexacopter equipped with a high definition camera to assess the scene.

Officials from both Miros and Road Safety Department (JKJR) are at the scene to get a clearer picture of how the crash occurred.

As at 8.30am a total of 24 postmortems have been completed. 10 bodies have been identified and 6 have claimed family members.

Family members were seen waiting patiently around the Hospital Kuala Lumpur forensic area to identify and claim the bodies of their loved ones.

Some of the family members of the deceased in Genting bus crash grieving the loss of their family members outside HKL mortuary area

The crash, which occurred at around 2pm on Wednesday claimed the lives of 37 of the 53 passengers aboard.

Survivors claim the brakes on the bus failed before it hit the divider and plunged into the ravine.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/22/Genting-bus-crash-Search-and-rescue-restarts.aspx

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-genting-bus-tragedy-update-font-10-bodies-identified-6-have-been-claimed-1.342022

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Beggars, junkies and mentally-challenged persons among 18,000 bodies found in Mumbai railway premises in 5 yrs

The Mumbai Government Railway Police (GRP) disposed of as many as 6,190 unclaimed bodies found on the Mumbai railway premises over the past five years.

The GRP, which provided these shocking figures, said that the deceased included beggars, drug addicts and the mentally challenged.

A total of 18,084 persons were found dead within the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Railway Police Commissionerate, of which 11,894 bodies were claimed by relatives. The Mumbai GRP later disposed of the remaining unclaimed (6,190) bodies, or one-third of the lot.

They said each year, thousands of people migrated to Mumbai, the nation’s commercial capital. Many settled near religious places or on the premises of railway stations. The problem arose when these settlers died due to starvation or illness on the premises.

“If the body of an unidentified person is found on the railway premises, the police take a photograph of the deceased and later circulate it to police stations across the state, the police headquarters of other states through the state DGP’s office and Doordarshan to trace the relatives or next of kin of deceased.

The body is kept in the morgue of a government or civil hospital for eight days until a claimant comes,” said an officer attached to the Mumbai Railway Police. If nobody comes forward, the railway police dispose of the body.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of Mumbai GRP SN Sirsat said It’s a challenge to trace the relatives of a beggar, drug addict or a mentally challenged person.

“Thanks to the joint efforts by GRP personnel and Manavta, an NGO, we have succeeded in bringing down the figure of unclaimed bodies from 1,392 in 2008 to 1,111 in 2012.”

He added the GRP commissioner Prabhat Kumar launched the website http://shodh.gov.in in July 2012 to identify the accident victims. People can trace missing persons by furnishing their physical description on the website.

Railway activist Sameer Zaveri, who filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court in 2008, said, “As per HC’s direction, the Western and Central Railways in Jan 2011 started their websites to post details of accident victims.”

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1878024/report-beggars-junkies-and-mentally-challenged-persons-among-18000-bodies-seen-in-mumbai-railway-premises-in-5-yrs

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Cebu ferry disaster: 44 bodies identified, 50 still missing

The death toll of the Aug. 16 sinking of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas reached 71 yesterday.

But only 26 recovered bodies were released to their families as of yesterday afternoon.

Kinfolk were able to complete the paperwork, such as presentation of birth or marriage certificates, said social worker Edna Regudo.

Other documents required for identification are barangay certificates and valid IDs of both the claimant and the dead.

On the fifth day of the search, rescue and retrieval operations, 69 bodies, one arm and one leg were recovered. A total of 45 cadavers have been identified.

Fifty persons remain missing.

The body parts recovered have not yet been determined to belong a single person, and have not been counted as recovered said Dr. Assuncion Anden, regional director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas.

DNA matching , which takes a month, will be used for those who can not be physically identified.

DNA samples of the cadaver and a close blood relative will be sent for cross matching by the laboratory of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/472125/44-bodies-identified-50-still-missing

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Genting bus crash: Families still identifying victims at HKL

Family members of victims of the Genting bus tragedy are still waiting for confirmation on their loved ones' fate.

All the bodies have been brought to Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) for the families to go through the identification process.

A foreign worker from Punjab, India who declined to be named, said he heard about the accident through a friend and then checked the information on the Internet.

He said his co-worker Authur Malik, 40, and a relative, Sukvir Singh,24, who is here as a tourist, were in the ill-fated bus.

"I have been trying to call my friends but there is no answer. We came here after checking with Hospital Selayang," he said.

He added that he still did not know if they are dead or alive.

Others faced a similar dilemma as they awaited their turn to view the bodies and find out if their family member or friend had met with a horrible fate.

Meanwhile, the post mortem started around 11.20pm and is expected to take nine hours to complete.

Health deputy director-general Datuk Dr S. Jayaindran said a team of 12 medical personnel was conducting four post mortem processes simultaneously.

"We understand the position of families waiting for the victims to be identified and we are doing our best to speed up the process," he said.

He, however, said the identity of victims would not be disclosed to anyone not a family member.

Thirty-seven people were killed and 16 injured when a bus they were travelling in plunged into a ravine near Genting Highland Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/21/Genting-bus-crash-victims-families.aspx

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Tribunal delays return of Srebrenica victims’ belongings

Damir Alic, lawyer for the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacres, says he fears that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, will not hand over the stored items of victims that were found in mass graves any time soon.

Alic, who represents the victims together with a team of lawyers, recalled to BIRN that last October they asked the United Nations to abolish the immunity from prosecution of Carla del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, so she could be prosecuted over the destruction of items found in the mass graves.

Several years ago, the lawyers launched an investigation regarding the destroyed items, which showed that about 1,000 items found in the graves were destroyed in 2005 and 2006.

They hold del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the tribunal from 1999 to 2007, responsible for this action.

“We collected a lot of evidence that points out exactly to del Ponte and the persons around her,” Alic said.

However, since the ICTY clearly did not want to process del Ponte over the matter, the lawyers last October asked the UN to remove her immunity and so allow her prosecution.

Prosecution remains highly unlikely. Just over six months ago, the UN appointed her as lead investigator into the civil war in Syria.

Meanwhile, Alic recalled, the Hague Prosecution has said that the preserved items of the victims will not be returned to Bosnia until the war crime trials are not completed.

“We want this resolved as soon as possible, rather than in 2015 or 2017,” he said.

According to him, Serge Brammertz, the tribunal’s chief prosecutor, promised to submit photographs of the preserved items, such as glasses, ID's or parts of clothing, to be placed in the Memorial Center in Potocari so that the families can start the process of identification.

“He promised last year that he would send high-resolution photographs that could be used for identification, to determine what belong to whom,” Alic said.

“But we did not get these photos. It is obvious that this is down to the bureaucratic slowness in The Hague Tribunal and for these reasons we are not satisfied,” he added.

Alic maintains that about 90 per cent the preserved items should be classed as personal, and it is essential that they be returned.

Lawyers representing the victims of Srebrenica and Brammertz have different opinions over whether some items - such as the bandages used to tie the hand and cover the eyes of the victims before they were killed - are personal belongings.

“In our interpretation, the bandages used for the hands and eyes [of victims] are also private property,” he said.

“These items were found in mass graves. However, Brammertz’s stance is that bandages used specifically for eyes cannot be called private property,” Alic said.

The matter of seeking the removal of del Ponte’s immunity continues.

“Till now, we have no more information about what is happening within the UN. We know it is going very slowly,” Alic said.

“However, we have unofficially learned that the Department of Legal Affairs is in the phase of preparing a case.

“So, we assume that the commission that should investigate all the actions undertaken by del Ponte since artefacts from the Srebrenica victims were destroyed will be formed soon,” he said.

Alic added that the liability of other employees of the Hague Tribunal would also be investigated.

“We will seek to establish the responsibility of other persons who still work at The Hague Tribunal for the destroyed artefacts,” Alic said.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/interview-tribunal-delays-return-of-srebrenica-victims-belongings

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Argentina probes hospital morgues after 200 bodies go missing

Argentine authorities are investigating the operation of several Buenos Aires morgues after the disappearance of more than 200 bodies, officials confirmed to Efe.

Court-ordered raids on several capital hospitals over the past several weeks revealed other irregularities such as unidentified human remains, body parts scattered among different refrigerated rooms and bodies in advanced stages of decomposition.

The investigation was launched after the municipal government requested the burial of 23 bodies that had been held in the morgues of four hospitals for years.

The official tasked with relaying that request, Judge Roberto Gallardo, discovered serious irregularities in the lists of entry and exit of human remains at the morgues and ordered that the health centers be closely examined.

Gallardo determined that dozens of bodies had gone missing from those hospitals after they had been listed as delivered to the morgues.

Representatives of the hospital workers attributed the situation to chronic staffing shortfalls and not to negligence.

Alarmed by what was found in the initial four inspections, Gallardo expanded the review to the other 18 hospital morgues that also fall under municipal responsibility.

The audits revealed that a total of 216 bodies were missing from six of the 22 morgues examined.

Thursday 22 August 2013

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/130821/argentina-probes-hospital-morgues-after-200-bodies-go-missing

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