Mundka fire tragedy: DNA reports trickle in

NEW DELHI: Almost a month after the Mundka fire tragedy that killed 27 people, the forensic science laboratory released 10 DNA matching reports on Tuesday. Of these, six are the ones for which the bodies were already handed over a day after the blaze while for the remaining four unidentified bodies, the relatives of the victims have been asked to come and see the bodies once again, said officials.

According to Dr SK Arora, Medical Superintendent (MS) of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, where the remains of those charred in the fire have been kept, the relatives of the four unidentified bodies will be shown the bodies again after which the post mortem will be done and the bodies will be handed over to them.

“The DNA samples of all 27 bodies were taken after the blaze. Out of them, eight were identified by their relatives and were handed over to them the next day itself,” said Dr Arora. However, of the 17 remaining unidentified bodies, DNA matching reports are still pending. Of these, four reports are expected to arrive on Wednesday.

“The matching of reports is taking a long time because the bodies were charred beyond recognition. We have to repeat the samples, as conclusive results are not being derived in the first go itself. It is taking time and hence the matching reports are being released in batches,” said Dr Arora.

In some cases, it was just a part of the body or mixture of bones, which is difficult for identification and hence DNA sampling has to be done to identify these bodies in order to hand them over to their families.
Meanwhile, the DCP (outer) district on Wednesday said that three bodies have been identified.

“On perusal of FSL reports received on June 7, three unidentified bodies have been matched with their relatives DNA samples namely — Madhu Devi, Narender and Muskan. Their family members have been informed to reach SGM Hospital, Mangol Puri on Wednesday for receiving the bodies after postmortem,” said DCP (outer) Sameer Sharma.

He added that the DNA sample of one of the victims Ranju Devi was not matched with her son. 
Therefore the blood samples of her parents were also taken on Tuesday and will be sent to the forensic laboratory for matching. “Sincere efforts are being made with the FSL authorities for collecting the remaining reports. A team is present at the FSL, Rohini office for collecting the reports, when ready,” said Sharma.

A senior FSL official had earlier said more than 100 exhibits were received by the FSL.

A massive fire broke out in a four-storey building in outer Delhi’s Mundka on May 13, leaving 27 people dead.