Genting bus accident: Public appeal to identify remaining victims

Six out of 37 victims of the Genting Highlands bus tragedy had yet to be identified as none of their next-of-kin had come forward to identify the bodies.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam made an impassion plea to those with missing family members who had used Genting bus services on the fateful day to help identify the bodies at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital's (HKL) Forensic Department.

"The next-of-kin are advised to bring photos of their family members for identification purposes," he told reporters after visiting injured victims of the crash at HKL here, today.

He said HKL were working with the police to locate the next-of-kin of the victims - two men and four women - as no one had come forward to claim the bodies.

Commending on quick response from medical teams in attending to the crash victims, he said this reflected public hospitals high level of preparedness in the face of tragedy.

"We have four response teams comprising trained doctors and support staff equipped with adequate equipment to provide good treatment to crash victims.

"This shows that hospitals in the country are ready to face any eventualities and disasters," he said.

On injured passengers, he said they were recuperating well and beginning to undergo psychological treatment and counselling to overcome trauma due to the tragedy.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) issued an appeal for the next-of-kin of two victims who were killed in Wednesday's bus tragedy in Genting Highlands.

A HKL spokesman said one them was a fair skinned man likely to be a Chinese while the other is believed to be an African woman.

"The man is 170cm tall, has hands of a person probably doing manual work. He had on him a green keychain with two car keys, one believed to be of a Nissan model," he told reporters at HKL's mortuary today.

He also said the man wore a silver necklace, a grey T-shirt of the Spalding brand and green trousers worn over a pair blue boxer shorts.

The accident, the worst ever road disaster in the country, claimed 37 lives and left 16 others injured, some critically.

Meanwhile, as at noon today, the bodies of four of the victims had been claimed by their next-of-kin.

They were Loh Kim Lan, 78, Kwan Chin Yii, 22, Udamjit Singh (age not available) and Yap Moi, 60.

Yap Yop Peng, 57, who came to claim Yap Moi's body, said she only came to know about her sister's missing after her (Yap Moi's) employer told her that she did not turn up for work yesterday.

"I had not seen her for sometime. I doubted she would be a victim but when I checked, found out she had made a bank withdrawal at Genting Highlands.

"I came here after hearing about the tragedy and identified her as my elder sister. I could recognise her eyes and nose although she had multiple injuries," she said.

Photos of some of the personal effects found on the unidentified bodies can be found here.

Friday 23 August 2013

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North and South Korea hold talks on family reunions

North and South Korea have begun talks on resuming the reunions of families separated by the Korean War in 1950-53.

Korean Red Cross officials met at the border village of Panmunjom in an attempt to restart the reunions last held in October 2010.

The two sides remain technically at war because the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace deal.

The talks come as the two countries last week reached a deal on a joint industrial zone.

Many families were separated at the end of the war by the dividing of the peninsula.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye last week called for the resumption of the reunions, urging North Korea to "open its heart".

The aim is for some of them to meet during a festival holiday in September.

However, the two sides have yet to agree on the venue, size and date of the possible reunions.

In South Korea, more than 70,000 people have registered for the reunions.

Kim Kyung-ryun said that she had been trying for decades to reunite with her parents and siblings in the North.

"So many reunions have passed, and I've never been picked," she said.

"So I wonder whether my chance will ever come, and I'm just a bit too tired to worry about it now."

The current talks are the latest signs of tensions easing on the peninsula.

In April, North Korea withdrew its workers from the Kaesong joint industrial zone, angered by the expansion of UN sanctions after its 12 February nuclear test and annual US-South Korea military drills.

The deal reached last week came after six rounds of talks ended unsuccessfully.

Meanwhile, it was reported that a North Korean man apparently defected after he was found on South Korea's Gyodong Island.

It was not immediately known how he had crossed the border in stormy weather. South Korean officials said he was now being questioned.

Defections by crossing the border via land and sea is said to be rare, and most are made by North Koreans entering another country before going to South Korea.

Friday 23 August 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23791117

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Genting bus crash: Six victims yet to be identified

Police have yet to identify six victims of the 37 dead bodies pulled out of the bus wreckage here.

Bentong OCPD Supt Mohd Mansor Mohd Nor said 20 bodies, 19 Malaysians and one Indonesian, have been claimed by their families.

"As for the remaining six, we are sifting through the clothes, valuables and documents found in the ravine to match them. I call on those missing relatives in Genting to come forward to assist in investigations," he said.

Of the dead, 22 were males and eight were females.

Of the bodies that have been identified, three of them were foreigners: a Bangladeshi, a Nepalese and a Korean.

Of the 14 Malaysians identified, two were Malays, 11 Chinese and one was Punjabi.

Dr Jeyaindran said six families, all Malaysians, had already claimed the bodies of their loved ones.

He advised the beneficiaries to come to HKL and bring personal documents to claim the bodies.

"All those who had been brought out of the bus alive, are still alive and in stable condition.

"There have not been any more deaths,"he said.

At the scene of the bus crash along KM3.5, a large tractor has been brought on site to hoist up the wreckage from the ravine.

Puspakom officials are also carrying on site investigations to ascertain what could have caused the crash.

It is expected that the wreckage will be taken to the Bentong police headquarters for further investigations.

When asked if police have spoken to the surviving victims from the crash, Supt Mohd Mansor said they would wait a few more days.

"Many are still recovering and are not in the right frame of mind to present their accounts yet," he said.

Search continues for body parts, belongings of crash victims

Search and rescue personnel were today still combing the slopes of a ravine for body parts and belongings of the victims of the bus tragedy that killed 37 people on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, personnel deployed in the operations had recovered two severed legs scattered around the site where the ill-fated bus, carrying 53 people, had crashed in what is the worst road accident in the nation's history.

The limbs have yet to be traced to the victims as many bodies had been mangled, some beyond recognition.

About 160 policemen, including VAT 69 commandos and General Operations Force personnel, were also combing the area to recover victims' belongings.

Post mortems on the 37 victims conducted at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital found that they all died from multiple injuries due to the impact of the crash.

Only 16 passengers, including nine foreigners, survived and are being treated at the Kuala Lumpur, Sungai Buloh, Selayang and Bentong hospitals.

Recounting the search and rescue operation on Wednesday immediately after the crash at 2.15pm, Genting Highlands fire department chief M. Mahendran, who was first to arrive at the scene, told reporters he heard screams of pain from the survivors.

Mahendran said the accident was the worst he had seen in his 26 years of service.

He also described the difficulties the rescuers had faced.

"We had to wait until the bus stabilised in case it plunged further down the ravine before we could start rescue works.

"When I finally climbed into the bus, I saw dead bodies on top of some of the survivors," he said.

Bentong OCPD Supt Mohd Mansor Mohd Nor stressed that the death toll remains at 37, and dismissed rumours that there were bodies that had yet to be found and that more had died in the accident.

He said that investigations performed by Puspakom, the Chemistry Department and police forensics branch were still underway at the site.

"The bus is badly damaged as it plunged off and rolled down the ravine for 60 metres before it came to a halt against a tree. Otherwise, it would have gone down another 100 metres," he said.

Two heavy-duty cranes are expected to be used to haul the wreckage of the bus out of the ravine tomorrow.

Mohd Mansor urged the families or friends of people who have been missing since Wednesday's crash to contact the Bentong district police headquarters or Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Friday 23 August 2013

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/23/Genting-bus-crash-victims-20-identified.aspx

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Cebu ferry disaster: Cadavers’ photos taken down to prevent trauma

Forensic experts heeded the advice of the Department of Health 7 and temporarily stopped showing photos of cadavers at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes.

The Regional Crime Laboratory 7 will instead direct relatives of missing passengers of last Friday’s ferry collision to a private area, said Chief Insp. Benjamin Lara.

Pictures of retrieved bodies were projected on a screen at the mortuary’s lobby so these could be identified.

"We only did it to help collect data and possible description of the passengers," Lara said, adding that they had no intention to cause any trauma.

As of yesterday, 75 bodies were taken to funeral homes. Some 29 remain unidentified.

Lara urged relatives of missing victims to go home and await results of their investigation.

DNA testing

Forensic experts started processing the bodies for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) last Tuesday. They took specimens for a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) examination.

They also took specimens from the missing passengers’ relatives for DNA comparison.

Lara said the results may take up to a year, depending on the cross-matching of the DNA.

"They have to understand the sheer volume of the samples that were taken from the cadavers and their families," he said.

To speed up the identification, he also urged relatives to submit dental and fingerprint records of their missing loved ones.

Dr. Dindo Herrera, a dental expert from Camp Crame, arrived in Cebu yesterday to help with the examination of the bodies.

Delays

“They don't have to worry because we will notify them once Camp Crame will release the results," Lara said.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, 18 cadavers were released from the funeral homes, said Rosalina Allorada of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants to speed up the release of the bodies retrieved from the sunken passenger vessel of 2Go Group Inc. mv St. Thomas Aquinas.

He learned from the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes that the dispatching of the bodies was delayed because claimants have yet to fulfill all requirements.

Bong Ebo of Cosmopolitan said claimants need to secure clearances from the National Bureau of Investigation, the Talisay City Health Department, 2Go and the DSWD.

Jenifer Abastillas of DSWD said they require the spouse of a victim to present a marriage certificate.

If the claimant is a mother or father, they have to submit a birth certificate of their child.

For those who cannot present a marriage certificate or a birth certificate, she said they can present a certification from the mayor of their local government units or barangay captain and any ID issued by a government agency.

Fewer requirements

Ebo said the requirements should be cut down to hasten the release.

The mayor said the matter will have to be addressed immediately.

Based on the records of Cosmopolitan, of the 47 bodies that have been identified, 19 have yet to be released. The 47 bodies form part of the 75 bodies that have been retrieved from the sunken vessel.

Ebo said the 19 bodies are ready for shipment but there’s no available vessel to ferry them to their respective places.

In a related development, Rommie Cal, who is a representative of Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol Matugas, said they will extend a P5,000-financial assistance to survivors from their province.

He said that based on the initial data they’ve, there are 10 passengers from Surigao who survived the incident, 10 deaths, and 20 who remain missing.

Cal and Matugas were in Cebu City yesterday.

Meanwhile, Engr. Noel Kimmayong of Malayan Towage said they already plugged three holes on mv St. Thomas Aquinas that were identified as the sources of the oil leak.

As a result, the oil leak of 300 liters per hour in the past days became 150 liters per hour yesterday. "This is very good news," he said.

Kimmayong said they and the team from Nippon Salvage will today dive to the site where the vessel sank to see if there are still other holes that need to be plugged.

Friday 23 August 2013

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/08/23/cadavers-photos-taken-down-prevent-trauma-299306

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