Forensic odontologists successfully identify tsunami victims in Phuket, Thailand

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.013

Forensic Science International

Volume 171, Issues 2–3, 13 September 2007, Pages 204-207

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.013 Get rights and content

Abstract

More than a year has elapsed since the seaquake in South-East Asia in December 2004, and more than 92% of the non-Thai victims have been identified. About 80% of the non-Thai victims were identified by dental information. This high success rate of dental identification in Thailand was a matter of surprise for many forensic experts.

Identification based on dental information is a highly efficient, reliable and rapid procedure. The conclusions drawn from the identification of tsunami victims in Thailand were recently discussed at the 17th Meeting of the Standing Committee on Disaster Victim Identification of Interpol in Lyon, and may be used to formulate new guidelines for the identification of victims.

Introduction

The devastating consequences of the seaquake in South-East Asia in December 2004 led to the greatest international effort undertaken so far to identify victims of natural catastrophes. Since the 28th of December 2004, International DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) teams have been working in Phuket/Thailand to identify the victims of the disaster. The teams mainly consist of police officers, forensic odontologists, medicolegal experts, fingerprint and DNA specialists.

In specially equipped disaster sites, about 4280 bodies of victims in the region around Phuket were placed in refrigerated containers and their PM (post-mortem) data were documented by medicolegal experts, police specialists and forensic odontologists. The PM data include the medical characteristics routinely registered at a limited internal forensic autopsy, as well as DNA samples, fingerprints, personal possessions, and a detailed dental status together with bitewings and/or periapical radiographs [1], [2], [3], [4].

In order to process the ante-mortem (AM) data obtained from the victims’ native countries through police inquiries and to compare these with the data collected at the tsunami site, the TTVI-IMC (Thai Tsunami Victim Identification-Information Management Center) was installed in Phuket/Thailand [5].

As a rule, victims of devastation can only be identified by three primary identification characteristics: dental status, fingerprints and DNA. By 23rd March 2006, about 15 months after the catastrophe, 1847 (90.36%) of the 2044 missing foreign victims had been identified. Of the 1603 known missing Thai victims, 1193 (74.42%) have been identified thus far, but the number of Thai victims is probably larger than the number of missing persons. The overall ID rate is 83.3%.

Significant conclusions may be derived from the number of cases identified at the TTVI-IMC by means of the various methods at 3, 7 and 11 months after the catastrophe.

Section snippets

Method of dental identification

Comparison of dental data in Phuket/Thailand was based on the registered data of victims (PM data) and missing persons (AM data). By 23rd March 2006, 3647 AM and 3680 PM cases had been entered into the computer system DVI System International (Plassdata, Denmark) [9]. In order to classify the victims’ dental status, all information pertaining to the condition, treatment, and position of their teeth are clearly designated by a three-digit code. The FDI tooth numbering system was used as the

Dental ID ratio

We analyzed the results of identification based on the various methods at 3, 7 and 11 months after the seaquake and after commencement of the identification procedure.

The state of identification on 28th March 2005, i.e. 3 months after the seaquake, is shown in Fig. 1 (ID by method). A total of 951 victims had been identified by this time; 837 (88%) by their dental status alone and 57 by their fingerprints.

Fig. 2 shows the number of identifications, divided by method, on 29th July 2005. By this

Discussion

Identification based on dental information is a highly efficient, reliable and rapid procedure. The quality of AM data is the sole regulatory parameter. This is evidenced by the different success rates achieved for Thai and non-Thai victims. Due to the poor availability of AM dental data for the Thai population, only a small number of Thai victims could be identified by this procedure. The dental identification rate for foreign victims, on the other hand, is about 80% [10], [11].

AM dental

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Rapid communicationForensic odontologists successfully identify tsunami victims in Phuket, Thailand

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Method of dental identification

Dental ID ratio

Discussion

J. Clin. Forensic Med.

Forensic Sci. Int.

A look at forensic dentistry-Part 1: the role of teeth in the determination of human identity

Brit. Dent. J.

An introduction to forensic dentistry

Quintessence Int.

Stomatological identification after air disasters

Stomatol. DDR

Rapid communication
Forensic odontologists successfully identify tsunami victims in Phuket, Thailand