QZ8501: Officials face challenges in identifying recovered bodies

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) officials are facing several challenges in identifying the bodies recovered from AirAsia QZ8501. One of the issues is incomplete ante-mortem data such as fingerprints or dental records.

Many of the bodies now being discovered no longer have fingerprints or recognisable physical features. DVI officials must turn to either DNA samples or dental records to accurately verify and identity an individual.

Budiyono, head of East Java Disaster Victim Identification, said: "Many have asked me why we're announcing identified bodies in small batches. That's not our intention. In fact, we are facing difficulties matching ante-mortem and post-mortem data.

"The bodies that we're handling are severely decomposed. But our DVI team is continuously working on them - thus we've been able to identify some each day."

Identifying bodies is a painstaking process, as each body that comes in to the morgue, must be compared to the ante-mortem data of the other 162 people on board QZ8501. Ante-mortem data include fingerprints, dental records, DNA samples, physical features and the last clothes worn by the deceased.

Forensic orthodontology expert A Fauzi, from the Indonesian National Police, said: "Teeth is one of the body's hardest parts which can take trauma. However if it is submerged in sea water, it can decompose quickly. So far, most of the teeth are in their sockets. But in situations where they are submerged in sea water for a long time, they can be dislocated from the sockets."

DVI officials have been working long hours to find matches as incomplete ante-mortem data have proven to be a major challenge. The officials are now taking a proactive approach in completing the ante-mortem data of the remaining unidentified passengers.

Instead of waiting for relatives to come forward, the officials have travelled to locations as diverse as the metropolis of Jakarta and a remote village on Leti island, 30 hours away by sea from Ambon, to get the data they need for a full ante-mortem profile. The DVI officials are scheduled to return to Surabaya by Tuesday.

Search for victims extended

Indonesia search and rescue agency BASARNAS has been forced to extend the search for bodies from the downed AirAsia QZ8501 beyond the “legal timeframe”, BASARNAS chief Bambang Soelistyo told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday (Jan 13), according to a Detik.com report.

In a briefing to Indonesia's House of Representatives on the search and recovery of QZ8501 crash victims, Mr Soelistyo said seven days is the legal timeframe for retrieving bodies, noting that BASARNAS has done everything by the book. The search and rescue agency was focused on finding bodies for the first seven days, while Indonesia's armed forces focused on finding the fuselage, he said.

On Jan 7, which was the 11th day of the search, the search entered a new phase when the tail was found and BASARNAS' focus switched to finding the black box – though the search for bodies continued, said Mr Soelistyo.

When asked about the chances of finding more bodies, Mr Soelistyo said it is harder to find bodies underwater than on the surface. All 48 bodies recovered so far were spread out, though BASARNAS expected most bodies to be found in the fuselage of the plane.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

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