Austria: Laboratory sees slim chance of identifying Mexican victims

Austrian forensics experts will need at least two months to see if they can identify the victims of an apparent massacre in Mexico, they said Tuesday.

Mexico has said mounting evidence and initial DNA tests showed that the bodies of 43 trainee teachers abducted by corrupt police officers 10 weeks ago were incinerated at a dump by drug gang members.

One student’s remains were identified from samples sent to Innsbruck’s Medical University.

The remaining ones, however, are in such a bad state that even specialist analysis focusing on mitochondrial DNA might take months, if it yields any good data at all.

Walther Parson, a molecular biologist in Innsbruck who is working on the case, said, “The chances for useful results, even with mitochondrial DNA, are very slim, but we will try everything to create more potential DNA profiles.”


At least one of 43 Mexican students who went missing in Guerrero state has been identified from charred remains.

A family member of one of the students, Alexander Mora, confirmed that the remains identified were his.

The relative said the family had received the information from a team of forensic experts.

The students were allegedly seized by local police in the town of Iguala in September and given to a criminal gang.

Prosecutors say the gang killed them and burned their bodies at a rubbish dump near the town of Cocula before scattered their ashes in a river.

The students' disappearance has triggered widespread protests across Mexico against corruption and violence.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/world/europe/austria-laboratory-sees-slim-chance-of-identifying-mexican-victims.html?_r=0 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-30365680

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Death toll from Banjarnegara landslide stands at 70

A joint search and rescue team found six more bodies of Banjarnegara landslide victims as of noon Wednesday, bringing the death toll of the natural disaster up to 70 people.

As many as 38 people are still listed as missing five days after a landslide hit dozens of homes in Grumbul Jemblung, Sampang village, Karangkobar district, Banjarnegara regency, Central Java, on Dec. 12.

“From the latest development of the rescue operations as of noon today, 70 bodies have been recovered. Based on orders from the President and Central Java governor, we will continue the evacuation process until all victims are recovered,” Banjarnegara deputy regent Hadi Supeno told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said the Banjarnegara Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) was ready 24 hours a day for search and rescue operations during the emergency response period after the landslide in the regency. The agency had also begun to focus on handling refugees, he added.

“Alhamdulillah [thanks God], the evacuation process has so far run smoothly, although heavy rain forced us to stop search operations several times because of worries over another landslide in the aftermath,” said Hadi.

On Tuesday, the search and rescue team ceased evacuation operations twice because of bad weather.

Hadi said half of the Jemblung refugees, especially those who were living in areas quite safe from the threat of landslides, had returned home.

“We will continue to monitor the conditions of the refugees. Up until now, their needs have been fulfilled well as humanitarian aid from volunteers outside the area continues to flow. I want to thank you all for the support,” said Hadi.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/17/death-toll-banjarnegara-landslide-stands-70.html

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Bodies of five missing fishermen found in Bengal

The bodies of five fisherman who went missing after their trawler capsized near the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal’s South 24-Parganas, were recovered while search for two other fishermen continues, an official said Tuesday.

The trawler with 10 fishermen on board capsized Dec 12 near Kendo island in the Sunderbans, after it was caught in a storm. While three of the fishermen were rescued, seven went missing.

“Since last evening (Monday) we have fished out five bodies so far. The bodies have been brought to Diamond Harbour and after the legal formalities, they will be handed over to their families,” West Bengal United Fishermen Association president Joykrishna Haldar told IANS.

Haldar, who has been supervising the search operations, accused the Coast Guard of non-cooperation.

“Though they have been conducting search operations, if the Coast Guard had been cooperative, by today we could have fished out all the bodies,” he said.

“Unless the bodies are found, the families are unable to seek any kind of compensation from the government,” he added.

Earlier in August, a trawler capsized in the Bay of Bengal, killing seven fishermen.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

http://freepressjournal.in/bodies-of-five-missing-fishermen-found-in-bengal/

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Rescue operations in Red Sea retrieve 4 more bodies of missing fishermen

Rescue teams managed to retrieve early Tuesday morning four more bodies of fishermen who drowned after the collision of an Egyptian fishing boat with a Kuwaiti container ship at dawn on Sunday.

Rescue teams from the Suez canal authority, Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co "GUPCO" coordinating with Egyptian navy forces, retrieved the dead bodies from inside the sunken fishing boat.

The additional bodies retrieved put the total count of recovered bodies at 17 with 11 still missing from the "Badr El-Islam" fishing boat which collided with the Jeddah-bound Kuwaiti container ship travelling from Italy.

Thirteen others were rescued near Raes Gharib in the Gulf of Suez, there were at least 40 fishermen on the fishing boat.

Abdel Rahim Mustafa, The Red Sea Port Authority official spokesperson told Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website that rescue operations will continue until the retrieval of the fishermen's dead bodies.

On Monday dozens of the victims' families protested at South Sinai governorate headquarters demanding that the government continue rescue efforts to retrieve the bodies of the lost fishermen.

The South Sinai general attorney has ordered the detention of the Kuwaiti tanker captain and his assistant for four days, pending investigations.

The prosecution accused both the captain and his assistant of murder, attempted murder and not participating in saving the fishing boat and its crew.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/118068/Egypt/Politics-/Rescue-operations-in-Red-Sea-retrieve--more-bodies.aspx

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