Source: The Star
Date: 7.6.2009
Dr Carl Leung |
In the aftermath of a disaster, matching a missing person with a dead body brings closure to the family. But for forensics experts, it's not a simple matter of ticking off a name each time a body bag is brought in.
Often, the bodies are decomposed, bloated, burnt or have missing parts. The forensics team has to find ways to identify them, bearing in mind that the task does not allow room for error.
"Decomposition is the enemy of forensic identification," says forensic odontologist Dr Carl Leung Ka Kui from Hong Kong
In 30°C heat, enzymes in the body begin breaking it down and skin slippage can occur, making it difficult to even identify a person's race. And infectious diseases, which can strike when the recovery of bodies drags into weeks - as in the case of the 2004 Asian tsunami - compounds the problems of identification, he adds.
Dr Leung gave a talk on "Forensic human identification protocol: What are the difficulties for funeral directors" at the Asia Funeral Expo 2009 that took place in Hong Kong last month.
Four months after the tsunami, he volunteered to go to Thailand with the Australian Federal Police. "My duty was to check all the identification records to see that the other forensic experts had followed the procedures. About 1,000 bodies had been identified by then, but there were another 2,000 to go."
Many of the tsunami victims there were tourists, and their home countries had sent in forensic experts to help. As a senior in the field, Dr Leung was required to re-examine their findings to make sure everything had been done properly.
The conventional method of using dental records (not always available in this part of the world) and finger prints is still the quickest and cheapest, he says, and about 75% of cases are processed that way.
Personal belongings, comparing the person's photo with shape of his skull or a medical autopsy are possible ways of identification. There is also DNA profiling, which involves grinding the bone and putting it in water to release the protein that's deep inside. This takes two to three days - unlike the two to five seconds shown on popular TV crime show CSI - and costs about RM10,000 per sample.
In the case Thailand, identification efforts were hampered by various technicalities. Dates were listed in different ways (eg, 2/4/04 or 4/2/04 for April 2); many of the experts came from Europe, which had a nine-hour time difference; too many people were putting their signatures on reports; and it wasn't easy to translate Chinese names into English.
Dr Leung was in Thailand for two weeks, the suggested length of stay for volunteer workers, after which they are required to go home and rest.
When disasters occur, governments need to build temporary body storage facilities fast, Dr Leung says. These set-ups must be efficient and able to store lots of bodies. "In Europe, teams can bring their own mortuary to wherever it's needed."
With his training in all aspects of identification work, he is often invited to give talks about disaster planning and protocol, and new methods of identification, like gait study which involves the measurement of how people walk. He visits Malaysia to lecture on forensic medicine at Universiti Malaya.
Does dealing with death get him down?
"One basic requirement of the job is that you cannot be afraid of dead bodies. I have the character for it," says Dr Leung, whose family has been running a funeral business in Hong Kong for over 100 years. His brother helms it today, while he is responsible for the "overseas connections".
"Every case is a new case and we have to remember that we're working with people, not numbers. When there is no closure, families get stuck in their lives. With closure, which is especially important to the Chinese, they can move on," he concludes.
Growing up in a family that runs a funeral business 50km south of Johannesburg, South Africa, prepared Dr Lawrence Konyana for medical school.
"On the first day, everyone was snapping back and crying (at the sight of dead bodies). But I grew up with it."
Still, the gruesome cases he encounters as a forensics expert horrify him. "I'm struck by the horror of it all, especially the gunshots in the head and head. It's even more shocking when a relative does it."
He spoke on the topic, "Challenges faced by funeral directors from the forensic perspective" at the expo.
Forensics experts "speak for the dead", he adds. "We are called to court to testify on the cause of death. Even in hospital, we find out why patients die during certain procedures."
Like Dr Leung, being confronted by death daily is something he takes in his stride. If anything, it has made this "panic mechanic" more alert to what can happen around him.
"I'm very conscious of what could happen and try to avoid certain situations. Like, every time my sister's children start climbing around, I imagine them falling."
Dr Konyana practised medicine for three years before taking up forensics. Last year, he decided to do it part-time, to concentrate on the family business. He is managing director of Konyana Funeral Directors (South Africa).
"There is no mortuary school in Johannesburg, which has lots of diverse cultures. With my background, I can explain things to people so they understand. It comforts them to know and in return, we get the respect of the community," he says.
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