Thailand Continues Body Search

[Darknight]

Thailand continues body search

From BBC News

The authorities in Thailand say they will continue the search for bodies for at least five more days.

But they are narrowing the search to the areas worst hit by last Sunday's devastating tsunami.

Naval ships from Thailand and Japan are also combing the sea for bodies, after a request from Sweden, which has the highest number of missing tourists.

Just under 5,000 people are known to have died in Thailand, but 4,000 are still missing, half of them foreigners.

US State Secretary Colin Powell has flown into Bangkok on a visit to see the aftermath of the disaster for himself.

Long ID process

The main focus of the relief effort has switched to identifying bodies, along with maintaining the flow of aid to those who need it.

The identification process is likely to take several months, says Phil Burfurd, of the forensics firm Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Management.

"This is of a magnitude far greater than any other recent mass fatalities disaster," Mr Burfurd told the AFP news agency.

Some Thai forensic experts have had to exhume 300 bodies, after discovering they were apparently mislabelled in the rush to bury the dead, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Forensic scientist Porntip Rojanasunand said when victims' relatives - all Thais and other Asians - came to identify the bodies, they realised they were being showed the wrong ones.

"The local offices did not put tags on the bodies properly, so we are trying to re-identify them. No-one understands how important it is to have the appropriate tagging and labelling," she told the Associated Press.

Rebuilding

Local people are gradually beginning to begin reconstruction in the areas devastated by the tsunami.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has told the country's banks to offer people whatever assistance they need.

Your experiences

But according to our correspondent, many small business owners do not have any insurance and therefore cannot afford to rebuild.

Attention has also turned to rebuilding the country's vital tourist industry.

Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathurathat told the BBC that with some of the main beaches now cleared and the situation calm, tourists could continue their holidays.

The government has already promised loans and tax cuts to tourist operators.

Some Thais have complained that local villages and towns hardest hit by the tsunami - such as the fishing village of Baan Nam Khem - have been ignored, while the international relief effort has focused on foreign tourists.

They say foreigners were put up in an international school with beds and internet connections, while Thais were left to sleep outside.

Mr Thaksin responded to the criticism, saying: "Obviously we have to look after the foreigners, but our priority now will be to help Thais find shelter."

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UNIDENTIFIED BODIES: Plan for DNA matching centre

Published on January 04, 2005

Experts called in to help overhaul system to help relatives find missing loved ones

The Public Health minister will meet forensic experts today to discuss a DNA search and matching centre for relatives of the tsunami-hit victims to claim their loved ones’ bodies.

Deans of forensic science from every university and a delegation from the Foreign Ministry will be at the meeting to work out how to build and manage a network to match DNA from relatives with that collected from corpses, without families having to travel to the wave-hit provinces.

The identification and claiming of corpses has been difficult because relatives of the victims, both foreign and Thai, have not known who to contact - or how to leave DNA samples to be matched with bodies.

Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula said China had offered its laboratory and forensic pathologists free of charge for the DNA checking. It takes about a week before DNA can be matched so people can identify and claim their relatives’ bodies.

Bhokin will discuss with the justice minister this offer and whether to send all DNA samples to China. He will also urge the government to set up its own centre to check and match DNA.

He said relatives who want to check unclaimed bodies must first complete a form at the Central Institute of Forensic Science in Bangkok. The officials there will keep DNA samples from fingernails, hair roots or cheeks to match with the deceased.

Pol Col Somchai Rattana-apa from provincial region 8 said that collection of all the DNA - up to 4,900 samples - was expected to be complete within a month.

China’s offer to help with DNA matching would also be sponsored by the US government. “It costs about US$150 per case (Bt5,850),” he said.

Currently, corpses and collected DNA samples are kept at many sites - Phuket’s Vachira Hospital, Phang Nga’s Kao Lak Hospital, Phang Nga Hospital, Phang Nga’s Yan Yao temple, Krabi Hospital, and the Santi Dhamma Foundation in Krabi.

Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, deputy director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science said that unclaimed bodies can only be identified by DNA analysis, so the forensic teams have collected tiny pieces of skin or teeth for the pathology process later.

“We also keep records of the corpses’ condition and description, as well as any accessories on the bodies, so that relatives can check and claim them,” Pornthip said.

However, she admitted that people wanting to find unclaimed bodies have to travel to the areas where their loved ones disappeared because, as yet, websites do not offer convenient access for searching.

“Information from the Interior Ministry and the [central] forensic institute isn’t yet linked,” Pornthip explained.

Thanyaporn Kunakornpaiboonsiri and Piyanut Tumnukasetchai

The Nation