NCJ Number
168685
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 42 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1997) Pages: 260-264
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper presents the mass disaster identification policy and techniques currently used in Israel, with attention to suicidal terrorist bombings.
Abstract
The mass disaster management policy in Israel is the result of the experience acquired by the various agencies involved in the investigations of suicidal bombings over the last 3 years. The investigation of a terrorist bombing requires close cooperation between forensic specialists and security forces. Information obtained at the scene, such as the precise location of victims, documents dispersed by the blast, or prosthetic devices such as dentures, can be invaluable for the forensic teams in establishing correct identification of victims and the perpetrator who may be killed in the blast. In terrorist bombings in Israel, identification of the cadavers has been accomplished within 24 hours of an incident in 85.6 percent of the cases, using standard identification procedures, expedited by the implementation of fast Phosphoglucomutase-1 and DNA typing, as well as the collection and processing of antemortem data through the Information Center. The delay in the identification of the remaining 14.4 percent of the cases was due to the lack of available antemortem data. Reconstruction of cadavers from body parts is of paramount importance in establishing the number of victims and by default in isolating the probable perpetrator, whose body is usually totally disrupted due to his close proximity to the epicenter of the explosion. A centralized data bank of fingerprints, dental records, and genetic markers for all Israeli citizens would greatly facilitate and expedite the identification of fragmented human remains. 1 table, 4 figures, and 22 references