Nigeria: Benue boat mishap - 17 bodies recovered

Two days after the Boxing Day boat mishap that claimed the lives of over 40 persons at River Buruku, in Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, the state Police Command says it has recovered 17 bodies from the river.

The State police public relations officer, PPRO, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Daniel Ezeala, who spoke yesterday in a telephone interview in Makurdi ,said search and rescue operation was still going on at scene of the disaster.

His words, "We have so far recovered 17 bodies from the river but we are still continuing with the search and rescue operation until we are convinced that there are no survivors or bodies in the river.

"I can also assure you that we have commenced investigations into the matter with a view to finding the immediate and remote causes of the tragedy."

Meantime, Buruku has been in a somber mood since the tragedy. Many families were yet to come to terms with the Boxing Day disaster that claimed the lives of young men and women of the area.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that families of the deceased have been making frantic efforts to identify the remains of their loved ones who have so far been recovered from the scene of the accident.

However, those who had not seen their children since the tragedy have continually besieged the Buruku police station to make inquiries.

Speaking to Sunday Vanguard, James Ajor, who said he lost two of his friends to the disaster, wept uncontrollably as he disclosed that the duo were also part of the committee of friends who recently supported him to solemnize his wedding.

"This is a major tragedy in our state because most families in the area have been directly or indirectly touched by this disaster. It is even more painful when one realizes that people are daily ferried across the river without life jackets and the authorities did not deem it fit to call the ferry operators to order", Ajor said.

"I lost two of my very close friends in this disaster. They were young promising men who were full of life and contributed immensely to the success of my wedding ceremony.

"That is the more reason we will continue to urge the federal government to construct a bridge across River Buruku in order to avert further loss of lives there.

Monday 30 December 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201312300836.html

Body remains of 14 Bosnian war victims found

Body remains of at least 14 persons were found at the Rogatica site, southeastern Bosnia, spokeswoman to the Institute for Missing Persons (IMP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina Lejla Cengic confirmed to the Anadolu Agency.

According to Cengic, excavation of the bodies was conducted for the last three weeks, and it is believed that these are body remains of Bosniak victims who were killed in the Bosnian war.

"So far more incomplete human bodies have been found. These are bodies that were thrown in a garbage dump and that is why the terrain is inaccessible," said Cengic and added that along with the body remains during excavations numerous unexploded mines and explosives were found as well.

"We still search for around 300 Bosniak civilians who were killed in the Bosnian war at the Rogatica site," said Cengic.

Mortal remains will be transferred to the morgue near the Bosnian capital, for the forensic processing, determining the cause of death and taking bone samples to DNA analysis in order to determine the identity of the victims, said a statement released by the Prosecution Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Excavation process is ongoing and operated by experts from the Special Department for the War Crimes at the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the presence of IMP, doctor of forensic medicine and police officers from Rogatica.

20 years after the war, the Prosecution Office along with the IMP actively continues process of search for 6,500 missing persons throughout the country.

Monday 30 December 2013

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=125968

10 prefectures say Nankai quake toll may top state’s estimates

Ten prefectures predict they will see more deaths than the state’s estimate if a big earthquake occurs along the Nankai Trough off central and western Japan, based on tougher conditions, such as the collapse of seawalls and coastal embankments, a Kyodo News study found.

Among the 10, Hiroshima Prefecture forecasts a massive quake could kill 14,759 people, 18.4 times as many as the state’s prediction, while Osaka Prefecture expects 133,891 to die, a 13.7-fold increase.

While the state calculated the possible death toll on the assumption that embankments will not be affected by the quake, many local governments compiled their own data assuming subsidence of embankments will increase the area of land submerged by tsunami, resulting in more deaths.

Nagasaki Prefecture, where the state estimated 80 people would die, said, “While up to 5,360 people could die under the worst-case scenario, no one will be victimized if we carry out appropriate evacuations.”

The Cabinet Office said in August last year that the nationwide death toll could hit 323,000.

A government panel predicted earlier in 2013 that there is a 60 percent to 70 percent chance that a major earthquake could occur along the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years.

The Nankai Trough runs from Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture to the Hyuganada Sea off Miyazaki Prefecture.

Remains unidentified

Police in areas affected by the March 11, 2011, disasters in the Tohoku region have not given up hope of identifying the remains of victims.

According to the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectural forces, more than 2,500 people have yet to be accounted for and the remains of 104 have not been identified yet: 70 in Iwate, 33 in Miyagi and one in Fukushima.

The Fukushima police were the first to start taking DNA from relatives of missing people to create a database. Thanks to these efforts, more than 90 percent of remains were identified within a year of the quake.

The police in Iwate and Miyagi also established DNA databases, and the three prefectural forces exchange information using their respective records.

However, many of the dead are believed to be elderly people with no known relatives, and the lack of documents and other related material have held up progress in identifying them.

The Iwate and Miyagi police published sketches of unidentified victims, but the amount of information provided by the public has fallen over time.

Stepping up its efforts, the Miyagi force has organized meetings where those searching for loved ones can exchange information with sketch artists, who give detailed explanations of the bodies, including clothes.

Helped by such interaction, Misako Sakaki, 24, from the tsunami-ravaged coastal city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, found her mother, Hitomi, who died at age 51, in November.

A sketch distributed as a flier hardly looked like her mother, but a character printed on the sweatsuit in the picture caught her eye. Sakaki talked with the coroner and continued communication until her mother was identified at last by dental records.

“I thought she would never come back,” Sakaki said.

Monday 30 December 2013

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/30/national/10-prefectures-say-nankai-quake-toll-may-top-states-estimates/#.UsGjIxxdVow

State program identifies remains of bodies found in Mahoning County

Ohio Attorney General DeWine announced late last week that remains found in Mahoning County nearly 17 years ago have been identified through DNA technology. The remains, discovered in December 1996, were identified as 35-year-old Jacqueline Rowe, of Youngstown. She disappeared from the city earlier that year. Her cause of death was ruled undetermined.

The identification was made through a free service offered by the Ohio attorney general's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, also known as BCI, for participation by police, coroners and families of missing individuals. The LINK Program, which stands for Linking Individuals Not Known, was established through the attorney general's office in 1999 to match DNA taken from family members of missing individuals to unidentified remains.

"The things that can be done with DNA technology today are absolutely amazing, and we urge those with a missing loved one to consider submitting a DNA sample," said DeWine. "There are hundreds of people missing in this state who, sadly, may have been killed and never identified, and this process could help provide some answers."

Samples of DNA submitted by family members for the LINK Program are compared only to DNA samples of unidentified remains submitted through similar programs nationwide. So far, family members of 128 missing people in Ohio have submitted their DNA, and law enforcement and coroners have submitted the DNA of 33 unidentified individuals who were found deceased.

The identification of Rowe's body marks the 23rd identification made through the LINK program since its inception. Officials with the Mahoning County coroner's office submitted DNA from Rowe's then-unidentified body in 2006. In August, Rowe's daughter, who was 18 when her mother disappeared, met with Youngstown Police to submit her DNA. Following DNA analysis, the match was made on Dec. 5.

Two other identifications made through the LINK Program in 2013 are Sharon Kedzierski and Diann Lynn Tatum.

Kedzierski's unidentified remains were located in April 1992 in Mahoning County. Her DNA was submitted to LINK by the Mahoning County coroner's office, and a match was made in January after family members in the state of Oregon submitted their DNA through a similar program. Kedzierski went missing in 1989 from Miami Lakes, Fla.

Tatum's unidentified remains were located in St. Clair, Mich., in 1994. She went missing from Jeffersonville in 1988. Family members submitted their DNA to LINK in 2005, and a match was made in March, when Michigan authorities submitted DNA from her remains to the system.

For more information on the LINK Program, residents and law enforcement can contact BCI at 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).

A full list of unidentified remains cases and missing persons cases submitted to BCI can be found on the Ohio attorney general's website at wwwohioattorneygeneral.gov.

Monday 30 December 2013

http://www.the-review.com/local%20sebring%20mahoning/2013/12/30/state-program-identifies-remains-of-bodies-found-in-mahoning-county

Tacloban buys lot for mass grave of 1,400 unburied Yolanda dead

The city government of Tacloban, Leyte has bought a 6,000-square meter lot for the mass burial of at least 1,400 corpses that remain unburied almost two months after super typhoon Yolanda struck on November 8, Councilor Jerry Uy told PNA on Monday.

Interviewed by phone, Uy said the unburied bodies have caused anxiety among Tacloban residents after millions of flies invaded the city.

They are also complaining that the stench from the cadavers was disrupting even their sleep.

Uy said the burial site is in Barangay Basper, some 10 kilometers north of Tacloban.

The bodies have been placed in a muddy field in Barangay San Isidro where forensics experts work to identify them.

However, Eutiquio Balunan, the San Isidro barangay captain, said the processing of the cadavers had been suspended over the Christmas weekend as the forensics experts went on holiday.

"We are requesting the city government to please bury the cadavers because our children and elderly residents are getting sick," he said. "This place has become a fly factory."

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the death toll from the typhoon, the world’s strongest this year, had risen to 6,155 with 1,179 others missing.

However, the NDRRMC earlier said it was uncertain if the number included the bodies in San Isidro.

Monday 30 December 2013

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/77746/tacloban-buys-lot-for-mass-grave-of-1400-unburied-yolanda-dead