Inquest starts into Christmas Island asylum tragedy

A Coroner for Western Australia will today begin an inquest into the deaths of more than 100 asylum seekers on a boat which sank north of Christmas Island last year.

Coroner Alastair Hope will preside over the inquiry into the sinking of the boat known as SIEV 357, which was carrying 212 people when it sank about 204km north-west of Christmas Island on June 21 last year.

Seventeen bodies were recovered, 85 people were reported missing and presumed dead and 110 people were rescued.

The passengers were from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

The WA coroner does not have powers to investigate the missing people but does have jurisdiction for the 17 whose bodies were recovered and will hold an inquest into how they died.

A Coroners Court directions has previously been told two of the recovered bodies have not been identified and one of them may never be identified.

Tuesday 25 June 2013

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/christmas-island-asylum-tragedy-inquest-starts-today/story-fnhocxo3-1226669385218

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Inquest to start into asylum boat sinking

An inquest into the presumed deaths of more than 100 passengers on board an asylum seeker boat that sank north of Christmas Island last year will begin next week.

West Australian coroner Alastair Hope will preside over the inquiry into the sinking of the boat known as SIEV 357, which was carrying 212 people when it sank about 204 kilometres north-west of Christmas Island on June 21, 2012.

Seventeen bodies were taken to Christmas Island, 85 people were reported missing and presumed dead, and 110 were rescued. The passengers were from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

The WA coroner does not have powers to investigate the missing people but does have jurisdiction for the 17 whose bodies were recovered, and will hold an inquest into how they died.

Two of the bodies have not been identified and one of them may never be identified, a directions hearing previously heard.

The listing comes as findings were finally revealed from an inquest into the SIEV 69, which sank on its way from India to Christmas Island in 2009.

The inquest, which was complete some six months ago, focused on Tharmeswaran Thambiaiya, a 29-year-old Sri Lankan whose body was the only one recovered from 13 who died in the incident.

In his findings, Mr Hope said language barriers and bad phone lines meant distress calls had delayed possible help for hours.

When a Taiwanese fishing vessel, the FV Kuang Win, did reach the floundering ship, it prompted two asylum seekers to swim from their stricken vessel - only to be turned away and made to swim back in dangerous conditions.

The Taiwanese boat then left the area to continue fishing, despite frantic radio messages for them to stay - an act that Mr Hope described as "callous and irresponsible".

"The recorded comments made by someone on the FV Kuang Win ... showed a remarkable disregard for the suffering and deaths of those on board SIEV 69," Mr Hope said.

Thursday 20 June 2013

http://www.smh.com.au/wa-news/inquest-to-start-into-asylum-boat-sinking-20130620-2ol1s.html

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Coroner declines Accident Bureau’s request in Dana plane crash inquest

A Lagos coroner, Oyetade Komolafe, on Thursday turned down requests by the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, to invite one of its consultants to the ongoing inquest on the victims of the June 3 Dana Air plane crash.

According to the Chief Medical Examiner of Lagos State, John Obafunwa, during his cross examination at the last sitting, AIB consultant, Kunbi Banjo, a professor of Anatomical Pathology, had tried to dissuade the state from conducting postmortem examinations on all the victims of the June 3 Dana Air disaster. Instead, Mrs. Banjo had asked the team of pathologists to restrict their examination to only the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot.

The AIB vehemently denied the claims during Thursday’s inquest.

Chinedu Anene, AIB’s counsel, requested that Mrs. Banjo, a pathologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, be invited to state her account of events.

“From Prof. Obafunwa’s testimony, there were assertions of what the AIB did or did not do and what somebody said or did not say,” Mr. Anene, who also represented the Aviation Ministry and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, said.

“We have not been able to refute, challenge, or corroborate the testimony. And we do not expect her (Mrs. Banjo) to go to the pages of newspapers to defend herself. It will be a contempt of court,” he added.

Obi Okwusogu, counsel to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, added his weight to the request, stating that the pathologist be invited “in the interest of justice.”

“I hope that the court has not concluded that Prof. Banjo be excluded (from giving witness),” said Mr. Okwusogu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. “I consider that her evidence will be very important to this court and the country as well.”

Mrs. Banjo’s efforts to dissuade the pathology team earned her an exclusion from the medical team who eventually went ahead to perform postmortem examination on the over 150 corpses.

While he was being cross examined on Thursday, Mr. Obafunwa admitted that the Dana crash investigation was his first shot at a large scale postmortem examination but it wasn’t Mrs. Banjo’s first.

“I was informed she was involved in a helicopter crash up north in which two or three people died,” he said, adding, “I’ve not seen the report. I don’t know exactly what she did.”

Another senior advocate, Bolaji Ayorinde, while supporting Mrs. Banjo’s invitation said that the inquest could benefit from her experience in air accident investigations.

“Unlike the eminent prof. who is doing this for the first time, even though on a large scale. Let her come, she may be able to throw some light,” Mr. Ayorinde said.

Mr. Komolafe, the coroner, turned down the requests.

“I don’t think the witness will add any value to the inquest,” he said.

“We are concluding. The only witnesses remaining are the Dana (Air) witness and Prof. (Obafunwa). We don’t have any intention of extending. Everyone has been given a chance to call their witness, if they have failed to do that, it’s their business,” Mr. Komolafe declared.

The coroner adjourned till April 18 and 19 for the continuation of Mr. Obafunwa’s cross examination.

Oscar Wilson, Dana Air’s Director of Flight Operations, entered the witness box next. He had earlier, repeatedly, failed to attend the inquest for his cross examination.

Mr. Wilson stated that the AIB had admitted making some errors in their interim report on the Dana Air accident.

The AIB report stated that Peter Waxtan, the American pilot of the ill-fated plane, was employed by the airline in March, 2012, began “line operations” in late May and had accrued over 120 hours before the crash.

“That is not correct,” Mr. Wilson said.

According to Mr. Wilson, a commercial airline pilot flies 100 hours in one month, four hours a day, and two compulsory consecutive days off every week.

“He (Mr. Waxtan) started making commercial flights in May. Prior to the incident, he had been flying for about one month on his own,” said Mr. Wilson.

“We brought it up with the AIB and they said they made a mistake in that statement, that there was an error in the figures,” he added.

Friday 1 March 2013

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/122462-coroner-declines-accident-bureaus-request-in-dana-crash-inquest.html

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Dana air crash inquest: update

John Obafunwa, Chief Medical Examiner at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, said that some of the passengers on the ill-fated flight died from inhalation of toxic fumes after the crash. “They must have been alive to inhale the smoke,” said Mr. Obafunwa, a professor of Forensic Pathology.

Mr. Obafunwa cited fume inhalation and multiple injuries as the causes of more than half of the deaths.

“Fractures to the skull, damage to the brain, punctures in the lungs, severe blood loss. All of these things can individually cause death,” he added.

Mr. Obafunwa also stated that the test results of the DNA tests carried out for unidentifiable bodies would be available next week. “We asked for samples from parents, siblings, and offsprings. These are what we'd use to compare victims' DNA profile and confirm the identity,” Mr. Obafunwa said.

Haphazard response 

The inquest, which began last month, continues to shed light on the uncoordinated and haphazard operations of the nation's emergency rescue agencies.

Testimonies given by the Fire Service, the police, and other emergency response teams showed that although relevant agencies arrived minutes after the crash, lack of appropriate equipment delayed rescue efforts.

 Julius Berger, a private construction company, had to bring in her cranes and other heavy duty equipment, over an hour after the crash, before rescue and response could be undertaken.

In a deposition to the inquest signed by Tanko Ashang, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) stated that crowd control was a major issue that hampered rescue efforts at the accident site.

 “Another clog in the wheel was co-ordination of the various stakeholders. Regular joint simulation exercises and informal meeting between members of various organizations will engender more effective collaboration in future operations,” said Mr. Ashang, NEMA's legal adviser. “A de-briefing meeting will soon be organized for all stakeholders by NEMA in order to gain from lessons learnt from this operation for better performance in future,” Mr. Ashang added.

Monday 30 July 2012

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/national/6228-DANA-CRASH-Police-blunder-Dana-air-crash-inquest-infuriates-coroner.html

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