Finnish forensic team leaving for Thailand
A ten-person Finnish team of forensic scientists is leaving for Thailand to take part in the process of identifying victims of the tsunami that struck last weekend.
The party includes forensic dentist Helena Ranta and three Estonian specialists, according to Det. Supt. Göran Wennqvist of the victim identification unit of the National Bureau of Investigation, Finland's central criminal police arm.
The team of forensic scientists and police experts will be going to Phuket and Khao Lak in Southern Thailand. There is already a 30-strong Nordic team on the ground undertaking the laborious process of identifying the bodies of the many victims.
Other groups from Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Australia are also working in the field.
Wennqvist noted that collaboration between the various national units has been smooth. All are working to methods jointly agreed within Interpol, so the data can be shared and compared easily between countries.
Finland is by no means the only Western country to have suffered hugely in terms of tourist casualties: it is believed that more than 1,000 Swedes may be found to have perished. Thus far 59 Swedes have been reported dead, but as many as 3,500 are still unaccounted for.
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have all reported close to 1,000 missing persons, while the figures in Italy and Switzerland are in excess of 600. Around 500 Danes and almost as many Norwegians are said to be missing, and the Norwegian figure is made larger by around 980 citizens who are believed to be in the general area of Southern Asia and unaccounted for, but who have not yet been listed as missing, since they were not known to be in the immediate disaster zone.
In Belgium, too, there are fears the total number of dead may exceed 200. Around 100 Czechs, Russians, and Britons are also missing.
It is estimated that as many as 10,000 foreign tourists are missing in Southern and South-East Asia. The vast majority are Europeans. More than 2,200 identified foreigners have been reported dead in Thailand alone.
In Finland itself, the process of talking to relatives of the missing persons and taking DNA samples from them is going ahead, in order to gather a database for comparison with the samples taken from bodies in mortuaries in Thailand.
The work will nevertheless take a great deal of time, as it also involves other authorities, and the analysis of DNA samples is not a speedy process.
Police are also obliged constantly to inspect the list of missing persons, as it is necessary to ensure before gathering data that the person is really still unaccounted for.
On Thursday a search and identification team left for Phuket, with four police officers, four rescue experts, a representative of the Foreign Ministry, two Lutheran pastors, and a specialist undertaker.
The victim identification unit, used in major accidents and disasters, has worked under the auspices of the NBI since 1991.
The party includes forensic dentist Helena Ranta and three Estonian specialists, according to Det. Supt. Göran Wennqvist of the victim identification unit of the National Bureau of Investigation, Finland's central criminal police arm.
The team of forensic scientists and police experts will be going to Phuket and Khao Lak in Southern Thailand. There is already a 30-strong Nordic team on the ground undertaking the laborious process of identifying the bodies of the many victims.
Other groups from Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Australia are also working in the field.
Wennqvist noted that collaboration between the various national units has been smooth. All are working to methods jointly agreed within Interpol, so the data can be shared and compared easily between countries.
Finland is by no means the only Western country to have suffered hugely in terms of tourist casualties: it is believed that more than 1,000 Swedes may be found to have perished. Thus far 59 Swedes have been reported dead, but as many as 3,500 are still unaccounted for.
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have all reported close to 1,000 missing persons, while the figures in Italy and Switzerland are in excess of 600. Around 500 Danes and almost as many Norwegians are said to be missing, and the Norwegian figure is made larger by around 980 citizens who are believed to be in the general area of Southern Asia and unaccounted for, but who have not yet been listed as missing, since they were not known to be in the immediate disaster zone.
In Belgium, too, there are fears the total number of dead may exceed 200. Around 100 Czechs, Russians, and Britons are also missing.
It is estimated that as many as 10,000 foreign tourists are missing in Southern and South-East Asia. The vast majority are Europeans. More than 2,200 identified foreigners have been reported dead in Thailand alone.
In Finland itself, the process of talking to relatives of the missing persons and taking DNA samples from them is going ahead, in order to gather a database for comparison with the samples taken from bodies in mortuaries in Thailand.
The work will nevertheless take a great deal of time, as it also involves other authorities, and the analysis of DNA samples is not a speedy process.
Police are also obliged constantly to inspect the list of missing persons, as it is necessary to ensure before gathering data that the person is really still unaccounted for.
On Thursday a search and identification team left for Phuket, with four police officers, four rescue experts, a representative of the Foreign Ministry, two Lutheran pastors, and a specialist undertaker.
The victim identification unit, used in major accidents and disasters, has worked under the auspices of the NBI since 1991.
Helsingin Sanomat