FRANCE-CRASH/FORENSIC EXPERT French Alps crash victims' identification will take long time, forensic expert says
Record ID:
383600
FRANCE-CRASH/FORENSIC EXPERT French Alps crash victims' identification will take long time, forensic expert says
- Title: FRANCE-CRASH/FORENSIC EXPERT French Alps crash victims' identification will take long time, forensic expert says
- Date: 30th March 2015
- Summary: PONTOISE, FRANCE (MARCH 30, 2015) (ITELE FOR POOL) VARIOUS OF FORENSIC EXPERT LOOKING AT SCREEN FORENSIC EXPERT WORKING ON MACHINE FORENSIC EXPERT PUTTING ON GLOVES VARIOUS OF FORENSIC EXPERT WORKING ON SAMPLES (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE FORENSIC SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF THE FRENCH GENDAMERIE, COLONEL FRANCOIS DAOUST, SAYING: "All the analyses allowing the identification of the victims of the disaster are made here. Whether it is through DNA, dental or medico-legal aspect if they (the victims) underwent surgeries before or prostheses, etc. and through fingerprints." VARIOUS OF FORENSIC EXPERTS WORKING IN LABORATORY (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE FORENSIC SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF THE FRENCH GENDAMERIE, COLONEL FRANCOIS DAOUST, SAYING: "The tests are very long because there are a huge amount of analyses to do. It takes time to get the ante-mortem files, families also must give samples so we can compare the family's DNA with the victims' DNA. Fingerprint comparisons made from administrative documents take time because the conditions are bad, the samples and pieces of bodies are not in a condition that would allow an immediate and easy interpretation." FORENSIC EXPERT WORKING ON SAMPLES (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE FORENSIC SCIENCES INSTITUTE OF THE FRENCH GENDAMERIE, COLONEL FRANCOIS DAOUST, SAYING: "I will remain very cautious towards families, I will under no circumstances announce that we will be able to identify everybody, we hope of course, because handing back a corpse, giving back a victim to the family allows them to start the mourning process which is very important to move forward in life. But I guarantee absolutely nothing as long as all the analysis operations are not over." VARIOUS OF FORENSIC EXPERTS WORKING IN LABORATORY
- Embargoed: 14th April 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA41F7M9IFHYFGW86BIXG8FNP1
- Story Text: The head of the French police forensic team said on Monday (March 30) it would take two to four months to identify the victims of a Germanwings Airbus crash and that there was no certainty all would be identified because of the high speed at which the plane crashed.
French investigators said on Monday they were building an access route to the mountain crash site in order to speed up the investigation. Investigators said some 400 samples from body parts taken from the crash have allowed police to identify 78 different DNA profiles so far that will need to be compared to those of the victims' families for identification at the Paris suburb laboratory of Forensic Sciences Institute of the French Gendamerie.
Several methods can be used to identify the victims, the head of the French police forensic team said.
"All the analyses allowing the identification of the victims of the disaster are made here. Whether it is through DNA, dental or medico-legal aspect if they (the victims) underwent surgeries before or prostheses, etc. and through fingerprints," said Colonel Francois Daoust.
The A320 jet operated by Lufthansa's budget airline crashed last week, killing all 150 people on board, including 16 schoolchildren returning from an exchange trip to Spain. The violence of the crash, spreading debris over an area of 1.5 hectares, makes the identification process very long, Daoust told reporters during a visit of the Forensic Sciences Institute.
"The tests are very long because there are a huge amount of analyses to do. It takes time to get the ante-mortem files, families also must give samples so we can compare the family's DNA with the victims' DNA. Fingerprint comparisons made from administrative documents take time because the conditions are bad, the samples and pieces of bodies are not in a condition that would allow an immediate and easy interpretation," he said.
An investigator at the crash site told Reuters about 350 people are working on the ground, but Daoust said he could not guarantee that all the victims would be identified.
"I will remain very cautious towards families, I will under no circumstances announce that we will be able to identify everybody, we hope of course, because handing back a corpse, giving back a victim to the family allows them to start the mourning process which is very important to move forward in life. But I guarantee absolutely nothing as long as all the analysis operations are not over," he said.
No identifications have been made as yet and the plane's second flight recorder, which contains flight data, has not yet been found.
The German pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a plane in the French Alps last week was treated for suicidal tendencies years ago before he received his pilot's licence, German prosecutors said earlier on Monday.
This was the first acknowledgement from German officials that the pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had suffered bouts of depression and it is likely to intensify a debate about how airlines screen and monitor their pilots.
Investigators believe Lubitz, serving as co-pilot on the flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf on March 24th, locked the captain out of the cockpit and steered the Airbus A320 plane into the side of a mountain while passengers screamed in horror. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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