Multinational Centre Begins Massive Task

[george]

Multinational centre begins massive task

Thousands of bodies to be tested, identified

Phuket: -- The world's first multinational Disaster Victims Identification Centre has been set up on Phuket to identify and search for the bodies of about 5,300 tsunami victims and 3,500 missing people.

Inspector Jeff Emery, commander of the DVI information management centre, said it is staffed by about 60 experts from 20 countries using the best and latest technology.

Victim identification relies on three main methods _ fingerprint identification, DNA sampling and dental examination.

DNA testing would be done both here and in China, and the DVI centre would keep the DNA profiles on file.

The Dec 26 catastrophe claimed 5,305 lives _ 2,516 of whom are foreigners and 2,578 Thais. Another 1,125 foreigners and 2,373 Thais are still missing.

Forensic science and Interpol regulations would be applied in identifying all bodies, Thai and foreign, Mr Emery told yesterday's press conference.

The operation comprised three major components, an international missing persons team, ante-mortem and post-mortem data collection, and a reconciliation unit.

The international missing persons team was currently tracking down all missing persons by collecting and requesting all countries to supply ante-mortem information of the missing persons.

The post-mortem data unit would collect post-mortem information of all the bodies from Thailand.

The information comes from foreign forensic teams as well as Thai forensic experts.

All data would be then forwarded to multinational forensic experts in the reconciliation unit, who would locate the missing persons by matching the ante-mortem data to the post-mortem data.

Reconciliation reports would be presented to the identification board, which would go over the reports before releasing the dead bodies to the relatives.

``The timeframe for the operation is unknown. It depends upon several out-of-control factors, such as how fast the countries transfer the ante-mortem information and the quality of the information we receive,'' said the commander. ``It wouldn't be unreasonable to say this process will go on for more than six months.''

Mr Emery declined to indicate how many bodies have been identified so far, saying that the DVI currently had some ``positive reports''.

Kirk Coningham, of the Australian Federal Police, said the identification process would be applied to all deceased persons, whose ante- and post-mortem information were available.

``There is an agreement between the DVI committee and the Royal Thai Police that all examinations will be conducted without discrimination in regard to ethnicity or race,'' he said.

Lorraine Williams, of the London Metropolitan Police, said: ``The task is very challenging mainly because of its tremendous scale. The UK police team used to deal with identifying victims of crimes, but it's highly unusual to work on the a huge number of casualties from the disaster.''

Col Kees Kuijs, acting team leader of the Netherlands DVI, said the strong support from local authorities and communities was a major factor in making possible such an enormous task, which had never been performed before.

Pol Col Panaspong Sirawongse, Interpol's head of liaison in Bangkok, said the operation would be very helpful in assisting Thai authorities identify the tsunami victims.

However, he hinted that the Thai forensic team and police officers had been sluggish in cooperating with the DVI.

He urged the government to send a team of integrated forensic experts and police officers to join the DVI operation in Phuket.

--The Post 2005-01-12

[aaaaaa]

Thais take over relief operation

Thais take over relief operation

By Connie Levett, Herald Correspondent, in Chon Buri

January 22, 2005

The huge American-led co-ordination centre at the heart of the tsunami relief operation has started to wind down operations with the handover of relief efforts in Thailand to local authorities.

Established on January 1, the centre has co-ordinated all relief efforts in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, making daily decisions on what resources are available, where they are most needed and the most efficient way to get them there.

"When we first got here it was a life-saving operation, then it moved to life sustaining," said Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Krieg of the US Marines.

On December 27, the day after the tsunami hit, he got a call to start planning a co-ordination centre. He did not know then the scale of the disaster, but assumed four basic needs - medical, water production, engineering services and food, with helicopters for distribution.

The headquarters was set up at Utapao Air Naval Base, three hours south-east of Bangkok, because of its air and port facilities.

The base has a long association with US forces. American B52s were based there in the 1960s during the Indochina bombing campaigns and it served as a refuelling stop during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. It is also used for an annual joint US-Thai military exercise, Cobra Gold.

From a peak of 19,600 personnel helping with disaster relief, the American presence this week dropped to 13,000.

"Our teams are still in Phuket, but we are briefing the American ambassador ... on our plans to transition the entire effort back to the international community and the Thai Government," he said. "We expect within the next two weeks to be done in Sri Lanka."

He expects the Indonesian effort to continue at least another month.

Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN head of tsunami co-ordination efforts, said yesterday that most foreign troops could be home in a month as relief operations shifted from emergency airlifts to regular land and sea deliveries.

The co-ordination centre has been run on a consultative basis with liaison officers from 13 countries, including Australia.

Australian liaison officer Lieutenant-Colonel Jamie Patten-Richens explained the job was about connecting people with resources. The World Food Program has a shipment of fish it wants delivered to Banda Aceh, but has been unable to organise it.

"We find a nation that can deliver it," Colonel Patten-Richens said. "It might be by American cargo plane to Jakarta, Australian [Hercules] C-130 to Medan and then by French helicopter to Banda Aceh, where there's a World Food Program representative on the tarmac to receive it."

Colonel Krieg said: "Our mission is an initial life saving response while the international community gathers to take over.

"We can rapidly deploy to begin to provide relief, but long-term reconstruction ... we are not equipped to do that."