Thursday, July 17, 2008 46 bodies expected today; mobile facility still in transit, needs 3 days to set up
MORE bodies are set to arrive in Cebu today, raising the body count of the mv Princess of the Stars victims to 259.
Dr. Renato Bautista, chief of the Medico-Legal Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said the additional 46 bodies that were recovered from the islands off Romblon will arrive today.
The bodies will be processed at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes along Junquera St., Cebu City and not at the Cebu International Port (CIP), where the new forensic site would be set up.
Even if the mobile morgue arrives from Norway today, it can’t be used immediately as it would still take about two to three days to set it up.
The NBI has no update on where the mobile morgue is at present but Bautista said that it could still be in transit.
Apart from the 46 bodies, the forensics team is also expecting around 500 more bodies to reach Cebu after the Sulpicio Lines Inc. vessel is refloated in two to three months.
If the 500 bodies are still intact, Bautista said the disaster victim identification (DVI) team might need four more refrigerated container vans, aside from the six that are already at the CIP.
Space
Bautista said that since the bodies will be placed in coffins, they would take up too much space inside the refrigerated container vans.
But if what will be recovered from the vessel are only body parts, these will just be placed in body bags and there will be no more need for additional vans, he said.
“The bodies that are at Cosmopolitan right now will stay there and will not be transferred to the CIP,” added Bautista.
With CIP identified as the final DVI site, the Cebu City Government has set up mechanisms to address waste management and disposal concerns.
Officials initially plan-ned to install an underground septic tank at the CIP, where wastewater can be collected. But City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the City would provide a suction truck instead.
He explained that it would not be possible to install an underground septic tank at the CIP since the cemented ground is too thick for drilling.
“We will have a suction truck at the site 24 hours, seven days a week... The concrete is more than 8 inches thick, it’s impossible to drill through,” said Fernandez.
Bautista said they agreed with the use of a suction truck and assured the public that it would be used in such a way that no wastewater would be spilled.
He added that wastewater would be properly treated before being disposed of by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and that all biodegradable wastes would either be buried or incinerated. (EPB)
