Identification of victims of the collapse of a mine tailing dam in Brumadinho  

作　　者：Ricardo Moreira Araújo Yara Vieira Lemos Erlon Dias do Nascimento Anna Helena Silva Paraizo Alberto Julius Alves Wainstein Ana Paula Drummond-Lage 

机构地区：[1]Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais,Belo Horizonte,Brazil [2]Instituto Médico Legal AndréRoquette,Belo Horizonte,Brazil [3]Corpo de Bombeiros Militar de Minas Gerais,Juiz de Fora,Brazil

出　　处：《Forensic Sciences Research》2022年第4期580-589,共10页法庭科学研究（英文）

基　　金：The study was approved by the IMLARBH’s Study Centre and the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Minas Gerais,which waived the consent form and free informed consent(Approval Number 3.487.250).

摘　　要：The collapse of the B1 Dam of VALESAmining company in Brumadinho,Minas Gerais,Brazil was the largest humanitarian disaster and occupational accident in the country’s history,and it posed challenges regarding the management and identification of multiple victims.We evaluated the impact of the iron ore tailings on the victims’bodies.We examined the scientific identification of the victims and the dynamics of the disaster over the 1st year after it occurred.We also determined the socio-demographic profiles of the victims.In this retrospective,cross-sectional study,we investigated the expert reports of the victims’biological remains from 25 January 2019 to 25 January 2020.We analysed the socio-demographic data,identification methods,identification status,identification time,and necroscopic information.During the study period,259 of 270 victims were identified,and 603 biological materials were analysed;among them,86.2%were body parts and 13.8%were whole bodies.Of the total cases registered that year,476(78.9%)were submitted during the first 10 weeks after the disaster.Friction ridge analysis accounted for 67.9%of primary identifications and DNAanalysis did so for 91.6%of re-identification cases.Body dismemberment was 3.4 times greater among mine workers than among community victims.Adult males accounted for the greatest number of victims(P<0.001).Polytraumatic injury was the prevalent single cause of death.Necropsy examination revealed the occurrence of asphyxia in 7%of cases.The higher number of fatalities and greater dismemberment among employees than with community residents underlines the occupational dangers in the mining industry and clarifies the dynamics of the disaster.In the initial weeks after the dam collapsed,friction ridge analysis was the most appropriate method for identification.Subsequently,DNAanalysis became the most-used technique for identification and re-identification owing to the great volume of body parts and decomposed biological tissue.Autopsy allowed diagnosis of the causes of death t

关 键 词：DISASTERS victim identification TAILINGS mining legal medicine developing countries man-made disasters traumatic amputation 

分 类 号：X45[环境科学与工程—灾害防治]