SA tsunami team back home
Lazarus Mabasa
8 February 2005
Deputy Foreign Minister Sue van der Merwe has confirmed that a team of South African experts sent in search of four missing South Africans in Thailand have returned home.
The team consisted of Leonie Ras, senior superintendent and forensic expert in the SA Police Service, and Professor Hendrik Scholtz from the Gauteng Health Department.
The team, working under the direction of South Africa's Ambassador to Thailand, Buyi Pheto, submitted ante-mortum records and DNA samples of the four to the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification-International Management Centre (TTVI-IMC).
The TTVI-IMC consists of 100 members from more than 30 countries, and includes police officers, forensic experts, pathologists, members of Interpol, and logistical and support staff.
"The centre was of the view that the ante-mortum samples submitted by the South African team was of high quality and would assist a great deal in the process of searching for the missing
South Africans", said foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.
However, Mamoepa added, given the magnitude of the tsunami tragedy, the process of victim identification was a slow one. In addition, the authorities in Thailand were working meticulously to ensure positive and reliable identification in line with internationally accepted norms.
The government has briefed the affected families on the processes involved in the search for their loved ones.
"The government will continue to liaise with the Thailand authorities through Ambassador Buyi Pheto with a view to identifying the missing South Africans", Mamoepa said.
Source: BuaNews
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