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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Brussels attacks victims may not be identified for weeks | Brussels attacks victims may not be identified for weeks |
| (5 months later) | |
| Forensic experts dealing with the victims of the Brussels attacks have warned it could take weeks to identify the dead. | Forensic experts dealing with the victims of the Brussels attacks have warned it could take weeks to identify the dead. |
| Officials are carrying out painstaking work often based on dental records, fingerprints and DNA, sometimes relying on just tiny body parts of people killed in the devastating bomb explosions at the airport and metro. | Officials are carrying out painstaking work often based on dental records, fingerprints and DNA, sometimes relying on just tiny body parts of people killed in the devastating bomb explosions at the airport and metro. |
| Three days on, none of the bodies brought from the airport and train disaster scenes to the morgue has yet been formally identified and the process has been slow due to the horrific injuries and random nature of the attack. | Three days on, none of the bodies brought from the airport and train disaster scenes to the morgue has yet been formally identified and the process has been slow due to the horrific injuries and random nature of the attack. |
| A total of 31 people were killed in the attacks and hundreds were wounded. | A total of 31 people were killed in the attacks and hundreds were wounded. |
| “The number of non-identified people is very, very exceptional,” the federal police spokesman, Michael Jonnois, told AFP. | “The number of non-identified people is very, very exceptional,” the federal police spokesman, Michael Jonnois, told AFP. |
| “It was an ‘open’ catastrophe. There was no list of who was in the train or at the airport terminal. There was no passenger list, like when there’s a plane crash,” he said. | “It was an ‘open’ catastrophe. There was no list of who was in the train or at the airport terminal. There was no passenger list, like when there’s a plane crash,” he said. |
| Jonnois said forensics experts had collected wallets and jewellery and were checking details such as weight, height and hair colour with relatives. | Jonnois said forensics experts had collected wallets and jewellery and were checking details such as weight, height and hair colour with relatives. |
| “We want to have 100% certainty. We cannot allow ourselves to have the slightest doubt.” | “We want to have 100% certainty. We cannot allow ourselves to have the slightest doubt.” |
| The identification process has been made harder by the 40 or so different nationalities of people hit by the bomb blasts. For DNA checks, relatives could bring in a toothbrush, for example. But when this material has to come from abroad, it becomes harder and takes longer. | The identification process has been made harder by the 40 or so different nationalities of people hit by the bomb blasts. For DNA checks, relatives could bring in a toothbrush, for example. But when this material has to come from abroad, it becomes harder and takes longer. |
| Medical staff have described appalling “war injuries” from the violence of the three blasts and the fact that the attackers used TATP high explosive, which has huge devastative force, and the bombs were packed with nails – causing particular devastation in the confined space of the metro. | Medical staff have described appalling “war injuries” from the violence of the three blasts and the fact that the attackers used TATP high explosive, which has huge devastative force, and the bombs were packed with nails – causing particular devastation in the confined space of the metro. |
| At the centre of an explosion, bodies “are completely destroyed, in tiny pieces, and at the periphery you find bodies that are more or less intact, missing body parts”, Philippe Boxho, head of the Liège University forensics department, told AFP. “In this case there is probably some very heavy-duty damage.” | At the centre of an explosion, bodies “are completely destroyed, in tiny pieces, and at the periphery you find bodies that are more or less intact, missing body parts”, Philippe Boxho, head of the Liège University forensics department, told AFP. “In this case there is probably some very heavy-duty damage.” |
| Medics have described a range of devastating injuries caused by the attacks including severe burns, limb amputations and bodies riddled with pieces of metal. | Medics have described a range of devastating injuries caused by the attacks including severe burns, limb amputations and bodies riddled with pieces of metal. |