The devastation caused by DANA in Valencia and its metropolitan area has left the population immersed in sadness and uncertainty. As emergency services continue to rescue people and save lives, this has begun the task of identifying victims.
The tragedy is of such magnitude that this work is not easy. The more than 90 dead bodies found in the municipalities concerned are being transferred to the Valencia City Hall, while the Civil Guard barracks are processing reports of disappearances.
The Institute of Legal Medicine of Valenciawhich has proven experience in major disasters, activated nine forensic teams to travel to DANA-affected locations to carry out the removal of corpses and the carrying out of relevant examinations.
The duty judges of the judicial districts concerned delegate these procedures to specialists and to the state security forces and organs to speed up the procedures and officially inform families of deaths.
This process is the one that has priority at the moment. Once recovered and the mortal remains removed, the bodies were transferred to the City of Justice of Valencia, where they were emptied and made available. full basement parking for your reception.
This is the preliminary step to carrying out the corresponding autopsies and work aimed at identifying the deceased.
In addition, the General Directorate of the National Police, on Gran Vía de Valencia, and the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, located on Calle Calamocha, will be able to function as offices. ante mortemwhere family members can provide data that aids the identification process.
The Institute of Legal Medicine of Valencia receives assistance from forensic doctors and autopsy assistants from the Institute of Legal Medicine of Alicante and teams of experts from the Civil Guard and the National Police.
In addition, he is in contact with the Major Disaster Expert Group in case their assistance is needed.
Relatives of the missing began arriving this Wednesday afternoon at the City of Justice in Valencia in search of information.
Anxious waiting
“They tell us to file a complaint first. to the Civil Guard and, from there, they will contact us”, said the relative of a man who disappeared in Sedaví after the flood in statements to EL ESPAÑOL.
The families of the victims are now faced with an agonizing wait, compounded by uncertainty and despair due to a lack of information. “I don’t know where my parents are or where to go” explained another family member.
Another problem facing families affected by this disaster is that they cannot leave their municipality because the main roads are still closed. It is for this reason that they turn to friends and acquaintances to contact the Valencia City Hall in search of information.
“I’m coming to pick up a friend because his family can’t leave the house and they haven’t heard from him since the flood. They don’t have much coverage either and they don’t know what to do , it’s very frustrating without knowing anything,” laments another person concerned.
The tragedy has overwhelmed the forensic team, but officials at the Valencia Institute of Forensic Medicine are working tirelessly to offer answers and close this painful chapter with guarantees, but as quickly as possible.
The identification of corpses in the medico-legal context is carried out through the process of comparing data and records known to the person missing “The degree of coincidence determines different levels of certainty depending on the techniques used, which in turn depend on the availability, quality and reliability of all the data and elements obtained on the missing person and on the corpse,” according to the Department of Justice. .
2,500 rescues
The Civil Guard deployed in the province of Valencia around 750 agents of different specialties from all over Spain and mobilized some 300 vehicles (including six helicopters equipped with cranes and cameras and several boats) to participate in the rescue operations.
So far, around 2,500 rescues by components of the Civil Guard, as confirmed by the Valencia command in a press release.
The main operational efforts are devoted to helping and rescuing people as well as preventing theft.
In addition, they also collaborate in the identification of corpses as judicial police and the specialized identification team of the criminalistic service was sent from Madrid as reinforcement.
At the close of this edition, the Civil Guard estimated that around 5,000 vehicles remain stranded and around 1,200 people They are still stuck between the A-3 and the A-7 in different places.
