TITLE:
Challenges in Implementing DVI Best Practice Guidelines Due to the Brumadinho Disaster
AUTHORS:
Reinaldo Moreira Silva, Bruno Diniz Sander Morais, Carlos Danilo Ruas Silva, Elza Cristina Lopes de Oliveira, Fernando Pereira Macedo, Giovanni Vitral Pinto, Guadalupe Dell’Arret Coutinho, Higgor Gonçalves Dornelas, João Luiz Silva Moreira, Laila Evangelista de Almeida Fernandes, Marcia Lobão Iannini, Patrícia Siqueira, Valéria Rosalina Dias e Santos, Sordaini Maria Caligiorne
KEYWORDS:
Disaster, Victim, Identification, DNA, Brumadinho
JOURNAL NAME:
Forensic Medicine and Anatomy Research,
Vol.12 No.1,
January
15,
2024
ABSTRACT: The
broke of a tailings dam from Vale S.A. destroyed a gigantic area killing 270
persons in Brumadinho/Brazil. Organizing activities after a mass disaster is a
complex process that requires the involvement of many people and resources in
the laboratory. To DNA identification of the victims, a daunting work had to be
made by DNA laboratory staff in a collaborative effort with many partners.
Efforts to implement good practice guidelines in Disaster Victim Identification
(DVI) have revealed several important aspects that need to change in the
forensic DNA laboratory. This article highlights the challenges of implementing
DVI best practice guidelines in resource-poor settings, but with professionals
from different sectors engaged in the same goal of briefly identifying victims
and helping families and society.