Forensic Analysis in Mass Disasters: Explosion of Gun Powder in the Fireworks Factory. Accidents or Terrorist Bombing?

Abstract

A mass disaster is a situation that involves criticality between the number of victims and resources, in terms of both men and means, present on the site of the event which is mostly unexpected and sudden.[1], [2]In the multidisciplinary teams that intervene central is, and must remain, the role of forensic pathologists who are responsible for the direction and coordination of post-mortem operations [3]. The authors report the case of an explosion of a pyrotechnic artifice factory, as a result of which numerous victims and injuries are recorded.So the team did the autopsies and created a protocol to obtain biological samples (bones, blood, teeth, muscles) and the forensic pathologists contacted the families of the alleged victims and each provided a blood sample which was collected for the DNA.The geneticist, using the method of gene extraction and amplification, obtained the DNA from each bone, tooth, muscle of blood taken from the victims and then compared it with that extracted from the blood samples of the relatives[4]; the electropherograms showed at least one allele for each genetic marker of the “Combined DNA Index System”[5] in common between the victims and the families, thus allowing to establish the identity of all the subjects involved in the event.[6]Having established the identity of all workers, it was possible to determine their in the environment at the time of the location of fires and explosions.The results of the various forensic analyzes (autopsies, genetic and even traumatological investigations have allowed us to validate a scientific method useful in all mass disasters even when any type of anthropological or forensic dental research is difficult.[7], [8]