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DNA identification helps quake survivors find dead

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

Xue Yuchao has finally brought home the ashes of four family members who died in last year's May 12 earthquake that claimed 70,000 lives.

"Now, they can rest in peace, " says the 52-year-old, struggling to hold back his tears.

The devastating quake claimed his mother, son, sister and brother.

DNA identification helps quake survivors find dead
A forensic expert poring over samples at the DNA lab of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau. [China Daily/Courtesy of Qiu Lin]

Standing in the debris of their apartment building in Dujiangyan, one of the hardest-hit cities in Southwest China's Sichuan province, Xue recalls: "The building was gone in the blink of an eye; my son had no chance."

Xue's mother and brother lived in the building. At the time of the quake, his 21-year-old university student son was home on vacation and visiting his grandmother.

Xue speaks proudly of his elder son, who was awarded scholarships every year for his academic excellence, relieving Xue of the pressure of paying 6,000 yuan ($876) in tuition fees. A vegetable seller, Xue made just 1,000 yuan a month and got another 300 yuan in welfare.

"I ran as fast as I could to my mother's place after escaping from my house which also collapsed," he recalls.

He first checked on his second son, whose school stood across the street. He was fine. As he raced to his mother's place, he kept trying to reach them on their mobile phones. But there was no response. Perhaps they had escaped, he thought.

Then on May 17, rescue workers found the bodies of his son, brother and sister. His mother's body was never found.

There was no time to mourn. Funeral homes and police took away the bodies to cremate as the government rushed to avoid the threat of epidemics.

Liu Liangzhi, head of the Dujiangyan Funeral Home, recalls seeing about 200 bodies every day in the week the quake struck.

"The numbers exceeded our crematorium's capacity," Liu says. The funeral home could only cremate 36 bodies a day. "We had to work 24 hours a day."

Two days after the quake struck, on May 14, the Investigation Department of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau detailed a plan to identify the victims and dispatched 54 forensic doctors to the disaster zones. Around 30 forensic experts were stationed at Liu's crematorium to collect DNA samples from the dead.

Forensic expert Ding Yong says they first photographed the bodies and then collected the DNA samples. "For each body, we took three pictures - of the full figure, the face and of birthmarks or objects found on the bodies."

If the body was still warm, they took blood samples. From decaying bodies, they collected a cartilage, tooth or bone in an ethanol-filled tube. All the samples were coded with numbers.

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