Gunawardena Sameera A, Samaranayake Ravindra, Dias Vianney, Pranavan Selliah, Mendis Asela, Perera Jean
Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2019 Mar;15(1):125-130. doi: 10.1007/s12024-018-0033-4. Epub 2018 Oct 10.
The management of mass fatalities following disasters is a complex process which requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders and resources. A garbage dump at Meethotamulla in Sri Lanka suddenly collapsed, resulting in the death of 32 individuals. Efforts to implement best practice guidelines in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) during this disaster revealed several important aspects that need to be considered by the forensic community. Delays in initiating the legal processes to investigate and manage the incident resulted in public dissatisfaction towards the post-disaster management process. Body recovery by Police and military personnel without the involvement of medical teams had numerous shortcomings including the lack of proper tagging and photography, commingling of body parts, and non-preservation of personal items. Public expectation and demand for early release of the bodies conflicted with the necessity to undergo a stringent DVI process according to best practice guidelines. Many adaptations and alternate strategies were necessary to ensure that DVI could be done scientifically. The use of primary identification markers including odontology and DNA had many limitations including non-availability of antemortem data, resource availability and cost. Identification was established using a combination of secondary identification markers including clothing, jewelry, scars, tattoos, morphological descriptions and circumstantial evidence. In two cases, odontological features further supported positive identification. Samples for DNA were obtained and preserved but were not utilized in establishing the identities. This paper highlights the need for better public awareness and multidisciplinary commitment in managing mass fatalities and also reflects on the challenges of implementing best practice DVI guidelines in low-resource settings with different legal and socio-cultural expectations.
灾难后大规模死亡事件的管理是一个复杂的过程，需要多个利益相关者和资源的参与。斯里兰卡米霍塔穆拉的一个垃圾场突然坍塌，导致32人死亡。在这场灾难中实施灾难受害者身份识别（DVI）最佳实践指南的努力揭示了法医界需要考虑的几个重要方面。启动调查和管理该事件的法律程序的延迟导致公众对灾后管理过程不满。警察和军事人员在没有医疗团队参与的情况下进行尸体回收存在许多缺陷，包括缺乏适当的标记和拍照、尸体部分混杂以及个人物品未保存。公众对早日释放尸体的期望和需求与根据最佳实践指南进行严格的DVI程序的必要性相冲突。为确保DVI能够科学地进行，需要进行许多调整和替代策略。使用包括牙科学和DNA在内的主要识别标记有许多局限性，包括生前数据不可用、资源可用性和成本。通过使用包括衣物、珠宝、伤疤、纹身、形态描述和间接证据在内的二级识别标记组合来确定身份。在两起案件中，牙科学特征进一步支持了肯定性身份识别。获取并保存了DNA样本，但未用于确定身份。本文强调了在管理大规模死亡事件中提高公众意识和多学科承诺的必要性，并反思了在具有不同法律和社会文化期望的低资源环境中实施最佳实践DVI指南的挑战。
