Dead bodies in the ocean: What happens to these corpses?

Sometimes corpses are found at sea, with the cause of death ruled a suicide, homicide or an accidental death. Sometimes figuring out if a mark on a body was pre or post-mortem can be a challenge for forensic teams.

To figure out what happens to a human body, forensic entomologist Gail Anderson from Simon Fraser University in Canada experimented by dropping pig carcasses into the sea, according to Live Science.

"Pigs are the best models for humans," Anderson told Live Science. "They're roughly the right size for a human body; they have the same kind of gut bacteria, and they're relatively hairless."

During the experiment, Anderson and her team used a remote submarine to drop three pig carcasses in the Saanich Inlet, a body of salt water near Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The pigs landed about 330 feet below the water.



An underwater laboratory called Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea, or VENUS, allowed scientists to observe via video and take measurements via the internet. Sensors measured oxygen levels, water temperature, pressure and salt content, according to the study.

"It didn't take long for scavengers to find the pigs. Shrimp, Dungeness crabs and squat lobsters all arrived and started munching on the bodies; a shark even came to feed on one of the pig corpses," according to Live Science.

The first two bodies were eaten clean to the bone within a month, but the oxygen levels weren't ideal for the third body. The researchers found that the inlet is typically lower in oxygen, but the spot where the third corpse was dropped had exceptionally low oxygen, and big scavengers need more oxygen, explained Live Science. Larger feeders need to open the corpse up so the smaller scavengers that can't break the skin can get into the openings.

"Now we have a very good idea of how bodies break down underwater," Anderson told Live Science.

"These studies have provided valuable information for underwater death investigations, describing conditions of bodies over time in hypoxic and anoxic environments...They provide information to recovery divers and families as to the expectations of body conditions when in similar water conditions which will all assist in water recoveries," study authors wrote.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

http://www.hngn.com/articles/48010/20141104/dead-bodies-in-the-ocean-what-happens-to-these-corpses-watch.htm

At least 24 drown, dozen missing in Istanbul migrant boat sinking

At least 24 people including children drowned and a dozen were missing on Monday when an overloaded boat taking migrants towards EU waters sank in the Black Sea just off Istanbul, Turkish officials said.

Those on board were mainly Afghans seeking a better life in Europe. They had reportedly paid thousands of euros each to people smugglers for a seat.

The boat, described as a small cruiser, was carrying around 40 people -- over four times its maximum capacity -- including 12 children. Six people were rescued and 24 corpses recovered, the coastguard said in a statement. It added that search operations were continuing for the dozen still missing.

The boat sank three nautical miles north of the northern entrance to the Bosphorus, one of the busiest shipping thoroughfares in the world. They had set off earlier from Bakirkoy, an Istanbul suburb. Turkish media said at least one of those who died could have been a crew member or a smuggler.

Some reports said Syrians and Turkmen could also have been on board as well as Afghans. Television pictures showed survivors draped in blankets and sobbing as rescue workers offered them soup.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the tragedy highlights "the urgency to take concrete action to save lives, to address irregular migration".

"It is imperative to improve cooperation on this matter with countries that function as departure points for migrants seeking to reach EU countries," he said in a statement.

The boat was already half-submerged when rescuers, who had been alerted by fishermen, arrived at the scene, according to the Anatolia news agency.

The media said overloading, bad weather or a collision with another vessel were all possible causes of the disaster. Anatolia said prosecutors believed the vessel could have had leaks and have opened an investigation.

"There were lots of children on board. The wind is having a bad effect on the rescue efforts. The boat was very, very small, not enough for 40 people," a captain involved in the rescue efforts, Ali Saruhan, told CNN-Turk television.

Emre Can Kolcu, a member of a fishing crew, told NTV that after the accident "bags, shoes, coats and discarded life jackets covered the sea". He said it was likely that the children on board had been given adult life jackets that were too big and they had simply slipped out of them once in the water.

The stricken boat "was not a fishing boat, it was a tour boat for seven to eight people, not for 40," he added. Turkey has become a hub for illegal immigrants who aspire to reach Europe.

NTV television said the migrants had paid 7,000 euros ($8,750) each to travel to Romania and onwards to wealthier western European countries. Thousands of immigrants have drowned trying to make the perilous journey in recent years.

The accident comes at a time of intense debate in the EU over whether to continue migrant rescue missions, which some argue are encouraging more people to risk the hazardous voyages.

Britain said last week it will not support planned EU search and rescue operations to save migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. And Italy confirmed on Friday that it is calling off its year-old search and rescue operation "Mare Nostrum", which has saved tens of thousands of lives in the Mediterranean.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/dozens-drown-migrant-boat-sinking-off-istanbul-112324592.html

Koslanda tradegy: 9 bodies recovered; 29 missing

According to Disaster Management Center (DMC), nine people confirmed to be dead, while 29 remains missing, a significantly lower number than their earlier 190. It is highly unlikely to finding anyone alive under the debris, as mud would have been too weak to create air pockets for people to stay alive.

Over 3,000 families who lived in areas identified as risky, have been moved to safe camps.

Rescuers continue to dig into about 10 meters of mud with the help of sniffer dogs. But their operations are hampered by continues heavy rains.

The tragic landslide completely destroyed a line of workers houses in Meeriyabedda tea plantation near the town of Haldummulla, on Wednesday (29) morning. According to officials the line house complex houses more than 300 people, but most of them were out for work or school, when the landslide collapsed.

Over 13,000 people are affected by the inclement weather, DMC said. Over 3,000 families who lived in areas identified as risky, have been moved to safe camps.

The meteorology department says showers or thundershowers are likely to continue due to the atmospheric disturbance located to the northeast of Sri Lanka be widespread with very heavy rain falls more than 150 mili meters in the Northern, North Central, Eastern and Uva provinces.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

http://nidahasa.com/news/news.php?go=fullnews&newsid=1358

Workers find body of last missing victim while dismantling Costa Concordia

Russel Rebello, the final victim to be recovered from the Costa Concordia disaster, will receive a “hero’s welcome” when his body is returned home to India, his brother said Monday.

Salvage workers from Ship Recycling, the consortium dismantling the Concordia, said they found the remains believed to be of Mr Rebello, a 32-year-old waiter from Mumbai, inside a cabin on the ship’s eighth deck in Genoa.

A spokeswoman for Ship Recycling, the consortium breaking the ship at a yard in Genoa, told the Guardian that on Monday morning “human remains were found that are presumed to be those of Mr Rebello”. She said the remains were discovered in a cabin on the eighth deck of the giant liner. “All work on the ship came to a halt and the authorities are now carrying the necessary procedures.”

Workers found his badly decomposed body crushed beneath overturned furniture with an identity card including his name and photograph in his trousers. They notified Genoa prosecutors who ordered DNA tests to be conducted.

The surprise discovery ends a heart-wrenching search by Mr Rebello’s brother Kevin, who spent four months on Giglio after the Concordia struck rocks near the island off the coast of Tuscany in January 13 2012.

Mr Rebello was among the 32 passengers and crew who lost their lives after the Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, attempted to perform a “salute” in front of the island. The 114,000-ton liner struck a reef in shallow waters and capsized just off shore from the island’s tiny port. Kevin Rebello, who runs a natural therapy business in Milan, said after 1,025 days of waiting his parents would breathe a “sigh of relief” hearing the news.

“Their constant prayers have been heard,” said Mr Rebello, whose family is Catholic with a Goan background. “Now we wait for the DNA test and procedures to give Russel his final resting place with honour, respect and a hero’s welcome. India we are coming.”

Russel Rebello is understood to have died after giving his life jacket to another passenger and helping terrified passengers into life boats. He was the last victim to be found. The remains of Italian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi, were found in October 2013 just three weeks after the massive liner was pulled upright in an unprecedented salvage operation.

In July this year the ship was towed away by tug boats in another dramatic exercise and is now moored in Genoa's port, where it is being dismantled.

Schettino is facing charges of multiple manslaughter and dereliction of duty and could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty. He is due to appear in court again in December.

Tuesday 4 November 2014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11205374/Costa-Concordia-body-of-final-victim-found-on-board.html