Thursday, November 06, 2008 Rama requests Interpol to tap counterparts to find 300 bodies
AS they expect at least 160 bodies to arrive either on Monday or Tuesday, Cebu City officials are requesting the International Police (Interpol) to consult their counterparts in other countries regarding the missing passengers.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama said that as of yesterday afternoon, 163 bodies were retrieved from the mv Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon Province.
But with only some 480 bodies recovered since the Sulpicio Lines Inc. vessel sank last June 21, the disaster victim identification (DVI) team and city officials are wondering where the remaining 340 bodies are.
“That is why we have asked the Interpol to connect with their colleagues in the international community and possibly other scientific groups that can help explain what happened to the other 300 bodies,” Rama said yesterday.
He said that the DVI team, composed of officials from the Interpol and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), already has their own explanations, but Rama declined from disclosing it until they can verify what really happened.
As of Sept. 18, the Interpol has estimated that there are 820 missing passengers of the Princess of the Stars. With some 320 bodies that were transported to Cebu and some 160 waiting to be transported from Romblon, Rama said that around 300 more are missing.
As soon as the bodies arrive, Rama said a mass will be offered at the forensic site at the Cebu International Port before the DVI team processes the bodies and take DNA samples from them.
The mv Princess of the Stars sank near Sibuyan Island at the height of typhoon Frank last June 21, killing most of its 800 passengers and crew.
The DVI has so far identified some 130 victims by matching samples taken from the recovered bodies and relatives of the passengers. (LCR)
