Searching for Kin Amidst Tragedy—Disaster Victim Identification Operations for US Bangla Flight 211

Abstract

The nature of air disasters includes factors that exacerbate challenges in the identification process. Of the 49 deceased in the US Bangla air crash in Kathmandu, Nepal, four were intact, 11 presented with burn injuries, another 11 presented with partial charring, and 23 were completely charred. Personal belongings were useful in the identification phases for all types of victims. Fingerprints were obtainable and useful in intact victims and victims with less severe burn injuries; medical and surgical information was useful in bodies with burn injuries; finally, dental findings were useful in cases of extensive charring. Other useful methods in the process included marks of identification, physical features, and exclusion. In certain resource‐limited settings, especially in closed population disasters, where scientific identification (DNA, dental records, etc.) is not currently available, personal belongings, clothing, and physical findings analyzed by an identification team using a structured organization may be cautiously used as the primary means of identification.

Way forward from the experiences of disaster preparedness and response at Patan Hospital during 2013-2020: Nepal

“…This was reflected during the US Bangla Air crash which had 49 casualties. 4 The disaster was managed well however; inter-hospital coordination was a major challenge. To improve inter-hospital coordination training was, done and following this Kathmandu valley drill was done by MoHP and funded by WHO in 2018.…”

“…1 This was followed by cholera outbreak in Kathmandu city, the capital city of Nepal in 2016 2 and in 2017 3 the cholera outbreak was in Lalitpur city, which is adjacent to Kathmandu. The year 2018 was eventful too, US Airbangla aircraft crash 4 led a great challenge to health sector. This was followed by Dengue outbreak in different parts of Nepal in the year 2019.…”