The great unknown that remains unresolved to this day regarding the effects of the DANA that devastated the province of Valencia is the total number of victims caused by the worst cold drop of the 21st century.
In this regard, the authorities continue without offering a single data on the number of real reports of missing persons while rescue teams continue throughout the province to search for possible victims in hotspots such as the parking lots of shopping centers in Bonaire, in the city. of Aldaïaand MN4, located in the commune of Alfafar.
The beaches, the lake The Albuferathe mouths of rivers and ravines, cars piled up in ditches or in the communes of the zero point of DANA and underground car parks are the points where work against time takes place to try to recover as quickly as possible the bodies which Tuesday, October 29, they have not been located yet.
The Integrated Operational Coordination Center which is managing the crisis caused by DANA in Valencia assesses the death toll at 210, according to information provided at five o’clock in the afternoon this Monday. To date, after two days with the same data, it is insisted that “the process of investigation and identification of victims continues”.
Furthermore, the authorities have concluded the first phase of searching for the dead on the surface, which would explain the slowdown in the discovery of new victims.
In this sense, the head of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), Javier Marcosreported this Monday that a morgue with the capacity to house up to 400 deaths due to the effects of DANA is planned in Valencia. A capacity four times greater than that initially planned.
Marcos stressed that the complexity of the situation does not allow a clear estimate of the number of missing people.
The latest official data confirming the scale of the tragedy were published this Monday, November 4 by the Integrated Data Center (CID) created to deal with this emergency within the framework of the national medico-legal and scientific action protocol of the police during events involving multiple victims. The Institute of Legal Medicine of Valencia has carried out 190 autopsies on corpses, all of which entered the City of Justice of Valencia and were therefore transferred to the morgue installed at the Feria Valencia.
The people who died in the DANA from Valencia which have already been fully identified by forensic experts and specialists from the Civil Guard and the National Police, now number 111, according to the latest updated report from the Data Integration Center this Monday, November 4.
This organization explains that “while the issuance of positive identification notices has considerably accelerated since the previous update, the entry of deceased persons and the consequent practice of autopsies in medico-legal offices has slowed down”.
Almost all of the positive identifications were obtained by fingerprint matching, while seven of them were made by DNA analysis.
The CID is a technical body composed of a Forensic office and an Office of State Security Forces and Corps, with specialized agents from the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps, whose main function is to collect and supervise the different identification reports carried out by the different institutions .
All the deceased on whom the autopsy was performed were transferred by the Military Emergency Unit (UME) from the City of Justice, in whose basements the reception of the bodies of mortal victims is centralized, to the morgue installed in the Feria Valencia facilities.
The courts of the judicial districts most affected by the storm that hit the province last week, Torrent, Catarroja, Alzira, Valencia, Mislata and Requenaauthorized the handover to the families of a total of 47 bodies of deceased persons and issued the corresponding licenses for burial or cremation.
Thanks to this legal documentation, companies can take care of the deceased in the morgue installed in Fira de Mostres and transfer them to the places designated by the families. They have already done so, according to data from the Center for Data Integration (CID), with at least 35 deaths.
As reported this Monday by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, the courts concerned continue to appear with the relatives of the fatal victims of the DANA on whom the autopsy has already been performed and are fully identified, in some cases for via telematics or video calls given the impossibility for some of them to access the judicial seat.
After these appearances, the judges authorize the release of the mortal remains and the lawyers of the Administration of justice They issue burial or cremation licenses to funeral businesses.
Thus, before the courts of Torrentwhere there is a magistrate and a judicial team dedicated exclusively to these procedures at the judicial headquarters, 24 approvals have already been granted. This headquarters, located at number 3 Plaza de la Llibertat, is open to the public without interruption from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In the judicial district of Catarrojawhich includes the municipalities of Albal, Alfafar, Benetúser, Catarroja, Llocnou de la Corona, Masanasa and Sedaví, the handover of the bodies to the families of 11 victims was authorized.
Meanwhile, in the judicial district of Alzira4 licenses have been issued so far, such as in the judicial district of Valencia. In Mislata, three families received the necessary documents to take care of the remains of their loved ones and one in the judicial district of Requena.
The objective of the judicial bodies that open preliminary procedures for the deaths that occurred during the DANA of Valencia is to streamline bureaucratic procedures as much as possible so that those affected by the tragedy can face the grieving process and say goodbye to their loved ones. close ones.
The courts can make these appearances to authorize the release of the mortal remains only if they have a preliminary autopsy report and a positive identification report of the deceased from the Institute of Legal Medicine, IML, and the Civil Guard or the National Police.
They are both security forces, depending on the demarcationthose who inform relatives that their loved one has been duly identified and summon them to appear in court to designate a funeral home, obtain the necessary documents and thus be able to proceed with the funeral.
