Forensic experts to hold ‘ante mortem’ on victims’ relatives

Thursday, December 29, 2011

THE team of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who conducted the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) on those who died in the flash flood said Thursday it would be conducting the ante mortem phase after completing the second phase of the forensic examinations.

NBI-Northern Mindanao Medico Legal Officer Dr. Tommy Uy said those who have missing family members or relatives may visit the NBI’s regional and district office starting January 3, 2012 for the conduct of the ante mortem examination.

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Uy said ante mortem involves talking to relatives of the victims about the process and harvesting samples for DNA analysis.

He said the ante mortem is followed by the reconciliation phase or matching data in the post mortem and ante mortem phases, informing the next of kin and turning over the bodies to the families.

Uy said the ante mortem on claimants will be scheduled to prevent disorder.

“The ante mortem can be conducted in one day,” he said.

Uy said those with missing relatives whose surnames start with the letters A, B, C, D and E will only be accommodated for the ante mortem exam on January 3 to 6, 2012; while those whose surnames begin with F, G, H, I, J will be accommodated from January 10 to 13.

Those whose surnames begin with K, L, M, N, O, will be accommodated from January 17 to 20; those with letters beginning with P, Q, R, S, T are scheduled on January 24 to 27; while those with surnames U, V, W, X, Y, Z will be on January 31 to February 3, 2012.

Uy said claimants are advised to bring documents of their missing relatives or family members like dental or fingerprint records.

For DNA sampling, he said the nearest of kin should be present for data sampling.

“Claimants are reminded to observe proper schedule of dates as it will be strictly implemented,” Uy said.

As of 8:00 a.m. Thursday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao said at least 1,395 died in the flash flood in Cagayan de Oro, 225 were injured and 555 still missing; while in Iligan City, at least 1,670 have been reported dead, 887 injured and 407 persons still missing.

The DSWD also reported having served 29,147 families in Cagayan de Oro and 15,937 families in Iligan City. (Annabelle L. Ricalde)