DNA tests of plane crash victims likely to take month: Nepali doctors
- Purusottam Khatri
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E-mail Xinhua, October 1, 2012
DNA tests of plane crash victims likely to take month: Nepali doctors
KATHMANDU, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Officials and doctors involved in the identifications of the victims in Sita Air plane crash predicted that it could take a month to complete DNA tests especially of 12 foreigners including four Chinese, seven Britons and a U.S. citizen.
"We are facing problems due to lack of proper DNA tests facilities as there are just two DNA tests centers here in Nepal which failed to identify the bodies properly even though we tried repeatedly," said Dr. Harihar Wosti, who heads the Department of Forensic at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.
There is another DNA tests center at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) but the center is lacking proper equipment and manpower to handle the DNA test, said Nepali doctors.
Four Chinese -- Ming Wuqian with passport number G40797035, Yang Zhihua with passport No. G20926949, Chen Yang with passport No G47655512 and Lin WU with passport No. G29676184 -- were among the 19 passengers and crew members killed in the Sita Air plane crash on Sept. 28 within four minutes of takeoff about 500 meters from the runway.
The government officials on Sunday claimed that one of the deceased foreigners was found to be a U.S. citizen. Wu Hui, who was earlier identified as a Chinese citizen, was found to be a U. S. citizen of Chinese origin. Hui had an American passport numbered 485285378.
The officials said that the confusion over the nationality of Hui had surfaced because the travel agents failed to provide the passport copies of the deceased on time.
The bodies of five Nepali citizens including crew member of the plane were, however, handed over to family members on Sunday night, said Dr. Wosti. Problem occurred to identify their bodies as the bodies were all charred beyond recognition. Families identified them from dental records and possessions found on them, including jewelry. But the remaining bodies will have to stay at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital until DNA samples are tested and matched or their families provide conclusive evidence to identify them.
Wosti said DNA samples will need to be sent overseas for analysis and the process could take "months." To date no authority had stepped forward to coordinate the procedure and no arrangements had been made to expedite the collection and testing of samples, he said.
"DNA is a complicated thing; we need a very good lab and very good manpower. How fast it can be done depends on the laboratory. If they do it as priority they could do it in a week, but otherwise it could take months," he said.
Wosti said Nepal lacked DNA tests center at par with international standards.
Wosti and his colleagues are considering sending the samples to a laboratory in Calcutta, India. "We are preparing to establish identification of all through sample of teeth so that DNA tests could be sped up.
"We have also sent a form requesting each family in Britain, China, the United States and Nepal to give details of identifying marks, jewelry, spectacles, clothes and tattoos," Wosti said.
Doctors were trying to establish the identity of the victims through personal belongings found, such as hiking poles, address books, Goretex jackets, climbing shoes, travel plug adapters, instant noodles and protein bars through which doctors were currently trying to establish the identity of deceased. Enditem
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