Floods and mudslides in the State of Rio de Janeiro and a plane crash in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest: A study of two different experiences in disaster victim identification (DVI)

Abstract

In mass fatality incidents there are critical variables that will shape the response to the events. These variables will determine different strategies of action and will require specific approaches for the appropriate disaster management and identification of victims. Magnitude and nature of the disaster, number of victims, if it is an open or closed event, degree of fragmentation and decomposition of bodies, accessibility of ante-mortem data, availability of DNA reference samples and kinds of post-mortem samples for DNA testing are some critical variables in disaster victim identification (DVI). In this study, we will discuss how some of these variables shaped the response and the results of the methods of identification by DNA, fingerprint and dental analysis in two different disasters that occurred in Brazil: Floods and mudslides in the mountainous region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, in January 2011, in which 895 people died, and a plane crash in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, with 154 fatal victims, in September 2006.