Computer Data Matches Raise Families' Hope

Previously unidentified victims of the tsunami in Thailand have for the first time been provisionally matched with data provided by relatives at the multinational identification centre in Phuket.

An Interpol source said the matches made by the computer programme at the disaster victim identification centre were "a positive sign", but the data would now have to be verified by specialists in the centre's reconciliation unit.

British police working at the centre reiterated warnings that the identification process would take many months. Roger Baldwin, the deputy forensic coordinator for the UK, said that in a few cases relatives might never positively identify their loved ones.

A source close to the centre said several preliminary matches had been made. The nationality of the potential matches has not yet been revealed; the victims could be Thais or any of 40 different nationalities holidaying in Thailand on December 26.

A Metropolitan police source said she could not reveal whether any were British victims, and families would always be informed first. "I think there are a few [matches] in the offing, but we can't say how long it will take," she said.

Any computer matches must be put through an exhaustive checking process before families are informed, remains are repatriated and a death certificate is issued in the victim's home country.

Computer matches will first be checked and verified by specialists working in a reconciliation team. If they find a match is accurate, it goes to the Thai authorities, who have the final say in whether it can be declared a definitive match. Matches will be declared definitive without DNA confirmation if dental and other records are convincing, a standard of identification that would be accepted by UK coroners.

Police data analysts from around the world are continuing to enter postmortem data at the centre, collected from the unidentified bodies still being checked and logged at the Yanyao temple morgue.

A computer checks the information for possible matches with data collected from victims' families.

In the UK, police family liaison officers have been assigned to relatives of possible victims. They will help to collect information, including medical and dental records and DNA. This data is still being collected from families in Britain and collated at the police centre in Hendon, north London.

In many cases, copies of the dental records and other data will be taken to Thailand by police officers dispatched to work two-week shifts at the centre in Phuket.

There have been no DNA matches yet, and DNA matching is likely to take far longer than using methods such as dental records.

Once the Thai authorities have approved a match, the relevant country's embassy informs the families. The embassies then have to submit a written request to the Thai authorities to release any remains, which are to be held in refrigerated containers near Phuket airport for ease of repatriation.

David Tapp, the UK forensic coordinator, denied that recent disputes among the Thai authorities over the resampling of hundreds of bodies for DNA at the Yanyao temple morgue had delayed the matching work at the centre.

"People have got the impression that the Thai authorities did not know what they were doing, but like any criminal inquiry the first priority is preservation of evidence," he said. "When I got here, I was very impressed with what had gone on."

"This is a complex, large-scale inquiry which is extremely important to get absolutely accurate. We can't afford to misidentify a body.

"I would just ask people in the grieving process to be patient. We are trying to do everything we can in the best possible timescale."

Mr Tapp did, however, say that initial DNA tests organised by the Thai authorities in the chaotic aftermath of the tsunami were not ideal.

"We were led to believe DNA was taken by volunteers," he said. "As a professional I may have concerns about turning up as a member of the public and saying 'I'm going to do some DNA swabbing'."

Latest confirmed tolls by country. At least 162,705 have been reported dead.

Indonesia 115,229

Sri Lanka 30,920

India 10,714

Thailand 5,291

Somalia 298

Burma 90

Maldives 82

Malaysia 68

Tanzania 10

Bangladesh 2

Kenya 1