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DNA identification helps quake survivors find dead

By Qiu Lin (Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-05 14:30

"By the time the last body was found in a mountain spot last September, it was left with only bones," Ding notes.

By last September, forensic experts in Chengdu alone had photographed 585 bodies or taken DNA samples. Some bodies were identified immediately by relatives at the funeral home.

In the hope of finding his missing mother, Xue went to the Dujiangyan police station to have his blood test taken for DNA identification, two weeks after the quake.

These tests were given for free, says Mao Jiong, director of the DNA lab of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau.

He says the lab received more than 100 samples the very first day they started work. Its two DNA sequencers were assisted by five others who worked round the clock for the first couple of weeks to collect the sample data.

To confirm the identification, investigators needed samples from direct relatives - parents or children - to match the DNA data. But some victims had only one or no direct relatives, so investigators had to look for siblings, explains Mao. It could take a week to get the matching results.

"Accuracy was out top priority," says Mao. "This was our responsibility to the victims as well as to the survivors."

About two weeks after the earthquake, families started to come to the lab to have blood tests for DNA matches when the nine funeral homes in the city began posting photos of the coded bodies for relatives to identify.

"If a relative saw a family member's photo, he would take it and register with the funeral home and we would contact forensic services to take a blood test for DNA identification," says Liu of the Dujiangyan Funeral Home.

To date, the lab has 477 samples from earthquake victims and 313 samples from relatives. Of these, 142 matches have been confirmed, Mao says. All of the collected DNA data of the earthquake victims are stored in the DNA database of China's Ministry of Public Security. The identification is still going on, says Mao.

To guard against mistakes, the government has ordered that family members must claim the ashes with the DNA reports from the police.

It was not until after the Chinese New Year in February this year that Xue finally got the ashes of his family after he submitted the DNA report, his identification and proof of his relationship to the dead.

The Dujiangyan Funeral Home still has the ashes of some 60 victims. According to the city's cremation regulations, a crematorium can dispose off the ashes of anonymous bodies if they are not claimed with 30 days.

"But right now we are keeping all the unclaimed ashes because we are still waiting for directions from the civil affairs bureau on how to handle these ashes," says Liu.

Meanwhile, Xue has organized three tombs in a cemetery close to Dujiangyan city. As his brother died holding his son, Xue has put them together in one tomb. He borrowed the more than 6,000 yuan it costs to buy the plots.

"I had to find a place for them to rest," says Xue. "Now I can visit them whenever I miss them."

Though Xue has not received the 5,000 yuan per death which the government had promised as compensation, he says he no longer cares.

"I have lost my son and my relatives life is meaningless."

His only hope now is that his second son, now 15, will be selected for schooling in Shanghai, the city designated by the central government to help Dujiangyan's reconstruction.

He admits that he's still angry about the shoddy building, but he doesn't want to complain or file a lawsuit.

"Life is unfair. I'm just too weak and too old to fight."

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