JUNE 11 (Reuters) — A total of 342 victims from capsized ship on the Yangtze River have been identified as of 09:00 Thursday after their DNA matching process were finished, according to police officers in central China’s Hubei Province.
About 170 legal medical experts and technicians have been allocated for body identification work in Jianli, Jingzhou, and Wuhan in Hubei after the 2,200-ton-“Eastern Star” sank in the river with 456 passengers and crews on board on the night of June 1 after being hit by a tornado in Jianli.
“The DNA matching process for the remaining unidentified bodies were hindered by many difficulties. For example, we found only one of the victims’ parents or children, or the relatives are living in different places and cannot show up immediately, and also situations like the victims have no immediate family members,” said Zhou Xujin, head of forensic science department of Hubei Public Security Department.
Zhou added that “Some relatives’ DNA samples were collected and tested in their hometowns, and it will take some time to deliver the data here,” which also delayed the DNA matching process.
Experts said that the accuracy rate of DNA matching can reach 99.99 percent with the DNA information of both two parents and their children’s. With only one relative’s DNA sample, further information are required for identification.
“On the one hand, we may need to visit the victims’ residential places during their lifetimes to get some of their objects for further confirmation. On the other hand, we need to check whether they have other immediate family members,” said Zhou.
Currently, the Ministry of Public Security have informed of eight provinces and cities, including Shanghai, Jiangsu and Tianjin, to collect DNA samples from victims’ residential places.
For suspected victims’ bodies around the incident water areas, public security authorities also need to confirm their identification.
The number of shipwreck’s survivors remained at 14, and the death toll climbed to 434 by Monday night. Among the 456 people aboard the ship, eight are still missing.