The identities of over a hundred Rana Plaza collapse victims, who remain unidentified almost a year after the disaster, could be ascertained if necessary steps were taken by the government, speakers at a seminar said yesterday.
The identifications could be made by doing DNA tests of the family members of over 800 victims, whose bodies were claimed by relatives without providing any DNA sample, speakers added. The process would require around Tk50 lakh, as every DNA test costs Tk5,000.
Addressing a seminar on identifying Rana Plaza victims, Professor Dr Sharif Akhteruzzaman, national technical adviser for the national DNA laboratory, said the process of handing over the bodies of Rana Plaza victims had been “totally wrong,” as only visual identification marks were used to verify relatives’ claims on more than 800 bodies.
Realisation of standard identification procedure would have ensured that no corpse was handed over without collecting DNA sample for archival purposes, Dr Akhteruzzaman said, adding that the administration failed to follow the “ideal rules,” as such a disaster was unprecedented in the country.
“I am sure several bodies were handed over without properly identifying them. Some of those were done intentionally or unknowingly. Besides, an unscrupulous quarter had claimed some bodies to be of their relatives in order to bag Tk20,000 for burying each body,” he said.
Dr Akhteruzzaman added that a more elaborate and appropriate national disaster management plan was needed for collecting DNA samples from any future accident site.
Sources at the national DNA lab said 541 families gave 561 DNA samples for cross matching with the 322 unidentified victims, whose bone and teeth were collected as DNA samples.
A high-tech combined DNA index system (codex) software, provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, was used to identify 200 Rana Plaza victims through DNA tests.
Among those identified, 149 were female and 51 were male, 10 DNA samples of the victims were matched with several relatives, while 112 remained unidentified.
Yesterday’s seminar, titled “DNA Profiling Technology in Mass Disaster Victim Identification: The Rana Plaza Experience,” was organised by Dhaka University’s biological science faculty at the botany department.
Chaired by biological science faculty Dean Professor Dr M Imdadul Hoque, the seminar’s chief guest was DU Pro-Vice Chancellor (administration) Professor Shahid Akhter Hossain. Among others, Moniruzzaman Khondokar, chairman of biological science department, was present.
Further identification could be possible by collecting DNA samples from the buried bodies along with from those who claimed to be their relatives, and cross match it with the other people who had submitted samples in search of missing relatives earlier, Dr Akhteruzzaman said.
Asked whether the government would be formally asked to initiate further findings, Dr Akhteruzzaman said the DNA tests for Rana Plaza victims has not yet been officially finished, but added that a formal letter would be given to the government in the future.
The collapse of Rana Plaza on April 24 last year caused the deaths of at least 1,134 people and injured 2,515 more.