Pakistan needs to upgrade DNA testing facilities
The Dec 7 crash of an Islamabad-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Chitral, PK-661, in Havelian which left 47 people dead has raised questions about future strategies and policies to identify the dead in incidents such as plane crashes and fires such as the 2012 Baldia factory fire in Karachi that killed more than 250 people.
People also need to be made aware that their DNA samples should be available in case of such incidents, as DNA is the best way to identify a body.
A health expert, who asked not to be named, said the identification of bodies is made part of the airplane’s insurance in most countries, so after any such incident the services of the agency hired by the insurance company become available. It also becomes easier to match DNA samples if an agency with expertise is involved.
However, in this case, he said the PIA and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) tried to collect and match DNA samples rather than turning to an insurance company or a company hired for the purpose.
“The bodies of passengers are shattered after a plane crash but some parts, such as dental forensics, badges on uniforms and sometimes jewellery remains intact, and sometimes fingerprints remain intact. Dead bodies can be identified with those things; for example, Gen Ziaul Haq’s body was identified from the dental bone,” he said.
“Since it is a social requirement to hand over the dead body to the family, they try to give the trunk and any other part of the body that can be dislocated from it and identified through a DNA test. A separate coffin is handed over to each family so they can hold a burial.”
“The passenger’s DNA is the most suitable way to identify a body, so the passenger’s toothbrush or samples given to a lab for blood testing are asked for. Then, a blood relative is called for a sample,” he explained. The health expert suggested that a reference sample should be kept even after the body has been identified, in case it is required again.
“In the United States, in such cases or criminal cases – rape, murder etc – a sample is saved for a hundred years because it can be required in appeals in various courts. But in Pakistan, laboratory reports state that samples will be discarded after 30 days, and most of the time, reports are received after six months so the sample has been discarded before the reports are handed over.”
A pathologist said that a DNA report, usually, can be finalised in two days. But in incidents like plane crashes, it becomes harder because one sample has to be matched with all the bodies and dismembered parts.
It can also become difficult to extract DNA from a burnt body. “Although live cells can be extracted from the bone, DNA is also affected by burning and it often becomes corrupted,” the pathologist said. He added that experts are particularly careful in sensitive cases and take longer to make sure there are no errors.
In response to a question, the pathologist said there are two ways to store DNA: it can either be dried and stored, or frozen at -20 to -40 degrees Celsius or below, to ensure the sample isn’t corrupted. A US Food and Drug Administration approved kit is used to store and identify DNA, he said.