The second phase of DNA test results of the unidentified victims of the Rana Plaza disaster are set to be submitted to the labour ministry soon, although the exact number of verified identities could not be known.
Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, head of the National DNA Profiling Laboratory at the Dhaka Medical College (DMC), told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the second phase of DNA test results would be submitted to the ministry soon.
When asked how many victims had been identified, he said the results were yet to be finalised and the exact number would not be disclosed before the report was submitted to the ministry.
On November 4 last year, the first phase of DNA test results was announced. Out of 322 unidentified victims, the tests were able to identify 157 victims, including 116 women and 41 men.
Sources said the rest of the 165 unidentified bodies have undergone DNA tests in the second phase, with the laboratory being able to match several DNA samples collected from victims’ relatives. The findings of the tests would be submitted to the labour ministry within a week, the sources added.
Reliable sources at the women and children affairs ministry and the labour ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that the number of identified body was likely to be around 30-40.
A third round of tests would be carried out for further identification, although over 100 victims are likely to remain unidentified indefinitely.
The laboratory used the Codis software provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to sort and match samples collected from the victims and their relatives.
Meanwhile, the families of the 157 victims – who were identified during the first phase of DNA tests – are yet to receive financial assistance from the government, despite the Prime Minister’s Office having prepared their inheritance cheques. The families were initially promised compensations in the range Tk2-5 lakh.
On April 24 last year, at least 1,134 people were killed when the nine-storey Rana Plaza in Savar, that housed five garment factories, collapsed.