2014/07/24
The Conversation July 21 2014: Identifying bodies from MH17 is a challenge for forensics
Returning the 298 victims from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to their families with dignity and respect is a major priority for each nation involved.
Disaster victim identification (DVI) is a difficult task, but will be made even more challenging in this instance given the delays in body recovery and the interference of the crash site that is said to span over a 10km area including within a combat zone.
Australia has some of the best forensic experts in the world but they have been sidelined, with no access to the crash site or victims due to political obstruction.
Recovering the bodies
The most important phase of an identification operation is the Recovery Phase, which should be conducted by highly trained police and scientific officers. This involves thorough documentation, preservation and collection of bodies, personal property and other forensic evidence at the disaster site.
If the highest possible quality standards are not implemented at this stage of the identification operation, it may significantly delay or prevent accurate identification of victims.
Given the pictures of seemingly untrained military personnel trampling over the crash site and rummaging through the wreckage, it appears that the site has been contaminated and vital evidence has been removed.
Untrained searchers may not recognise items of forensic value to collect or overlook smaller body parts. more