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| 'Don't wait for me tonight, mum' By Paula Dear BBC News Carrie Taylor, 24, was one of seven people who died on a Circle Line train near Aldgate on 7 July last year, when Shehzad Tanweer detonated a bomb in her carriage as she travelled to work. Her parents, June and John, endured a 10-day wait before DNA tests confirmed their daughter was dead. One year on the couple spoke about their grief, anger and belief their daughter may have lived had the emergency response been different. "Some days you feel okay and others you feel absolutely awful. "We are not prepared to let go yet. We neither want to let go of Carrie nor let go of trying to get justice for her and everyone else," says June Taylor. On the first anniversary, they will make their first visit to Aldgate station since the London bombings to see a plaque bearing the victims' names unveiled. "I'm not looking forward to that, it's going to be hard," said the 58-year-old. As with so many of the bombing victims, that Thursday last summer was a routine day for the Taylors. Carrie and her mother travelled to London together from their home in Billericay, Essex, by overland train, as they did every day. Carrie put her make-up on, with June holding her mascara as she applied it with a brush, and they chatted. When they got to Liverpool Street, Carrie headed for the Tube and June walked to work. "We always used to do the same silly stuff. Carrie would give me a peck on the cheek, and I would give her a pat on the bum. "I always waited until she was out of sight. That day she finally gave me a big wave and a grin as if to say: 'Off you go, mother.'" The pair usually travelled home together, but that morning June recalls: "She said I shouldn't wait for her that night, because she was going shopping with her friend." The rest of the day is a familiar story of concern, attempts to get in touch, worry then increasing panic, followed by a trawl round hospitals in the hope that Carrie was dazed or at worst injured. "We didn't know where she was. If she had gone straight to work she wouldn't have been on the bombed train, but she had mentioned she had to buy something on the way which would have delayed her. "We spent the first three days hardly eating or going to bed. I couldn't turn the TV off," says June. 'My heart sank' John, 57, who works for security at London's Tate Gallery, says their 29-year-old son Simon was a tower of strength. "There's no way to describe what we went through for those 10 days," he says. "Our son was strong for us; he said unless we knew she had gone, then she hadn't gone." Prints and DNA swabs were taken from the house by forensics experts, and then the call came from the family's police liaison officer. "When they rang and said they wanted to come and speak to us, my heart just sank. You just knew what they were going to tell you," June says. "At first we didn't want to know about what had happened to her, it was bad enough knowing she wasn't coming home," says June. But four months later, a man came forward saying he had cradled a woman he believed to be Carrie, who was still alive, for about 30 minutes after the explosion. June said: "The police came and said he could go but he didn't want to leave her. The ambulance people arrived and put a drip into her but after four minutes she died." The couple say they are angry at the management of the rescue operation - not at the rescuers themselves - for "leaving our daughter down there with those injuries" and believe something could have been done to save her had help arrived sooner. "We were mortified to hear about this, it threw us right back to 7 July," says June. Events or milestones often take them back to that day, like getting Carrie's handbag back, making the journey to London for the first time, reading of official reports into the bombings, and dealing with media enquiries. And not long after the bombings, the police gave the couple a grainy CCTV image of June and Carrie walking through Billericay station an hour before the blasts - a photo June treasures. Meanwhile, they are a family grieving but trying to get on with life. Simon, who also works at the Tate, moved back in with his parents on the day of the bombings and has stayed. "He needed to be here and we certainly needed him. We felt stronger as a family, being together." June now repeats the morning routine with Simon that she did with Carrie, with her son disappearing down the same Tube entrance every day just as her daughter once did. "He and Carrie were very close. He used to come home at weekends and they would go to the pictures together. The day before she died they had lunch in London," says June. "He was so strong at first, but in the last three months he has felt like we did last autumn. The sudden realisation he doesn't have his sister any more has hit hard. He feels solitary now." 'Soap box' With Simon and John working later in the evening, this is one of the saddest times of the day for June. "I find it so hard coming home to an empty house. Carrie and I used to come home together, she would feed the cats and we would start dinner." The family always made time to go on holiday together to Florida each year. John said this year's trip in February was "tough but necessary". "If we hadn't gone, then the bombers would have won." Some of the family's anger is channelled into a campaign to get better compensation for survivors and for a public inquiry into the bombings, and they are in touch with about 15 other affected families. To some extent, the attacks have made them more political. "We were very much in favour of the (defeated proposal to hold terror suspects without charge for) 90 days and think there is too much political correctness about human rights," says June. "After Carrie died we were in a void, not knowing where to turn, not knowing why she had to be the one it happened to. "As we move further down the line, I want to stand on my soap box and tell people how I feel." BBC News |
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| 19 July 2005 BODIES OF 56 VICTIMS ARE NAMED ALL 56 people known to have died in the bombings so far have been identified, it was revealed last night. Fifty-five taken to the Resilience Mortuary in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company, Clerkenwell, London, were named by Sunday lunchtime. Another person has since died in hospital. Incident coroner Dr Paul Knapman: "Inquests into most have already been opened and adjourned. The coroners have all been anxious to expedite the identification process." Meanwhile parts of the No 30 bus that was bombed in Tavistock Square are being transported to the secretive laboratory at Fort Halstead, near Sevenoaks, Kent. Tests carried out there provided a breakthrough in the Lockerbie disaster probe. |
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| London victims identified 19/07/2005 07:54 - (SA) London - All the bodies which were removed from the bombed London Underground trains and a double-decker bus and taken to a makeshift mortuary have been identified, a coroner said on Monday. "Shortly after midday on Sunday July 17, the 55 bodies in the Resilience Mortuary had been identified," said the coroner, Doctor Paul Knapman. "Inquests into most have already been opened and adjourned at either Westminster Coroner's Court or St Pancras Coroner's Court," he said in a statement. Police said earlier that the number of confirmed dead in the July 7 bombings in London rose to 56 on Monday, having reported that two of them had died in the hospital of their injuries. It was not clear if the toll would now climb to 57 dead. |
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| Identification of bombings victims could take weeks Wednesday, 13th July 2005, 17:09 Category: Crime and Punishment The coroner in charge of formally identifying the victims of the London bombings today said the harrowing task could take weeks to complete. Dr Andrew Reid said recovery teams are working tirelessly to identify bodies and body parts from "primary sources" - dental records, fingerprints or unique medical devices such as pacemakers and hip replacements. Where none exist they rely on matching DNA from hair samples supplied by relatives, but the testing can take weeks. And he revealed that the bodies of the bombers will be treated in exactly the same way as the victims. Dr Reid, coroner for Inner North London and responsible for the identification process at the Kings Cross and Aldgate tube bombs and the Tavistock Square bus bomb, said: "In some cases where there are no fingerprints or dental records we might have to rely on DNA. "In the worst cases for some of the victims it might take weeks." He said he understood relatives frustrations at the delay with only ten victims formally identified after six days, but said his priority was to avoid mistakes. In previous disasters up to 10 per cent of identifications were incorrect. Sources close to the coroner said that one initial identification made on the basis of a "secondary source" - a photograph - had already proved to be wrong when checked against dental records. The source said: "If you get one identification wrong you have to double it on the basis it is the same incident and you have upset two family, not just one." Dr Reid said: "We understand and sympathise with the distress that the process is causing to the victims families. "Our priority is to complete the identification process and return the victims to their families for funerals as soon as possible. "Unfortunately this situation is wholly different to the bereavement process that the victims' families expected that they would one day face. "We have to make sure we return the right victims to the right families and there are no mistakes of identification made." Dr Reid said: "The bodies of the bombers will be treated in exactly the same way as the victims." He said that all relatives would eventually learn the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths when full inquests are held at the end of the police investigation of the bombings. Recovery teams dressed as for a hospital operating theatre are gathering body parts at the London Resilience Mortuary at the Honourable Artillery Company barracks in Central London. For each victim a team consisting of a pathologist and eight police officers, orthodontists and radiographers compare sources to evidence supplied by victims' families. The coroner then takes the final decision whether the identity has been confirmed. The source said the greatest challenge had been the scale of identification operation and he said it was proving particularly harrowing for the recovery teams. He said: "It is a difficult job for the staff. Some of the sites are causing more problems that others because of their location. "Damage to the vehicles involved is quite extensive and despite their best efforts some human tissue is going to irrecoverable. "it is distressing for the officers involved as it is for the victims families. "But the victims' bodies and remains are treated in a respectful manner at all times." Dr Reid said that secondary sources include personal possessions, papers, photos and credit cards. But dangers arise where they are out of date or a persons appearance has changed. He refused to be drawn on whether compulsory ID cards would make the task easier and said he was not in a position to compare the speed of the process with that carried out by the authorities in Spain after the Madrid bombings. A new Family Awareness Centre for relatives has been established in the Royal Horticultural Hall in Vincent Square and a new telephone hotline on 0845 054 7444 has been set up. Moya Wood-Heath, emergency planning advisor for the British Red Cross, claimed a premium phone line had been used to deter nuisance callers and said those suffering financial hardship could asked to be reimbursed. She said staff are continuing to receive fresh calls from relatives and employers daily |
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| London Resiliance - looking back moving forward RESILIENCE MORTUARY 3.40 The London Mass Fatality Plan had been prepared over a number of years under the aegis of a multi-agency planning group which included representatives of all the key relevant agencies. It was approved by the Forum in March 2005 and formally circulated to all stakeholders at the end of June, just days before the bombings. 3.41 After initial preparatory work by the London Resilience Team (LRT), the Plan was triggered by the coroners at noon on 7 July and the decision was taken to set up a ‘Resilience Mortuary’ (a demountable structure). A Mass Fatality Coordination Team was set up as required by the Plan, consisting of the three coroners involved, the Metropolitan Police Senior Investigating Officer and Senior Identification Manager, Westminster City Council (as lead council), the military, the Anti-Terrorist Branch, LRT, the Home Office and the contractors De Boers who were formally requested to construct the mortuary. 3.42 The Plan worked well. The coroners, police, local authorities, pathologists, LRT, Home Office, NHS, and others worked in close partnership to deliver a ‘Resilience Mortuary’ which was ready to receive deceased victims in 24 hours and fully functioning in 72 hours. An existing stockpile of £130,000 of mortuary equipment (purchased and stored by LRT and jointly funded by the Home Office and the British Airports Authority) proved invaluable in the rapid deployment of the mortuary. The mortuary included facilities for bereaved families to view their loved ones. The Salvation Army provided many valuable services at this facility |
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| 5.3 Concern was also raised that the Honourable Artillery Company site was actually owned by a Private Charitable Trust and not by a public body. This meant that an agreement had to be brokered between the HAC, Westminster City Council and the (then) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to ensure that the site owners would be fully reimbursed for the use of the site for the three months it was in use as a mortuary. All parties have now been fully compensated. In addition the London Mass Fatality Plan has now been amended so as not to rely on military premises as venues for the Resilience Mortuary. Many more sites have now been identified across London including locations at Royal Parks and Local Authority open-spaces. |
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| 3 months? Did identification really take that long? |
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| 19 July 2005 BODIES OF 56 VICTIMS ARE NAMED ALL 56 people known to have died in the bombings so far have been identified, it was revealed last night. |
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| "Shortly after midday on Sunday July 17, the 55 bodies in the Resilience Mortuary had been identified," said the coroner, Doctor Paul Knapman. |
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| The mortuary included facilities for bereaved families to view their loved ones. |
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| The war on error .... The Metropolitan Police Authority and the Home Office ... find them selves at loggerheads as the MPA wants to kick the Forensic Science Service out of its laboratories in Lambeth, south London - the very lab, say insiders, that carried out vital work in identifying the 7/7 London bombers. |
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| Freedom of Information Act Enquiries. To submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) enquiry please write to: FOI Enquiries. 109 Lambeth Road. London SE1 7LP. Or email : foienquiries@fss.pnn.police.uk |
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| Press Releases Statement on London Bombings A spokesman for the Forensic Science Service: The Forensic Science Service (FSS) has been supporting the London Bombings investigation by carrying out a range of forensic work. Staff worked over the weekend to examine evidence from various locations The FSS has been using DNA technology as well as fingerprinting and mobile phone analysis. A series of examinations has been carried out with responses typically within a few hours, day and night. Work is ongoing. |
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| Press Releases Statement on London Bombings The FSS continues to support the investigation into the London bombings, as well as the incidents on Thursday and Friday 21 and 22 July, by carrying out a range of forensic work on evidence from various locations. Staff have been working and will continue to work 24/7 to provide intelligence information to police as quickly as possible - typically within hours. Analysis of mobile phones, DNA analysis, fingerprinting and general forensic support are all being carried out. |
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| The widower's story EMMANUEL WUNDOWA discovered from the BBC that his wife Gladys had been killed in the No30 bus blast in Tavistock Square. The 53-year-old says: “It was the BBC who announced to the world – and us – that hers was the second body to be formally identified. “It was an enormous shock. We were all furious.” Earlier Emmanuel had taken a picture of his wife with him as he toured London’s hospitals in his desperate search for her. He said: “I visited every hospital in the area, praying I would find Gladys in one piece. “I didn’t know what state I would find her in but I pictured the moment when I would find her – slightly injured maybe, but OK. “I would hold her tight and tell her how much I loved her.” Emmanuel, of Chadwell Heath, Essex, says: “My whole family is still struggling to come to terms with the huge hole left in our lives. “Losing her is a wound that will never heal. You can manage it but it is always there waiting to turn septic again.” |
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| Government pleads for time to identify bomb victims 12/07/2005 19:40 By Andrew Gray LONDON (Reuters) - The government pleaded for time on Tuesday to identify the victims of last week’s bombings in the face of frustration among families who still do not know the fate of missing loved ones five days on. "Everything possible is being done and all of us understand how difficult and frustrating this must be for those who are still awaiting final confirmation but it is better to get this right than get it rushed," Defence Secretary John Reid said. At least 52 people were killed when suspected Islamist militants attacked three underground trains and a bus. Many families have shown typical restraint even though only a few victims have so far been formally identified. But a Nigerian mother gave voice to the anguish of many in an emotional plea for news about her missing 26-year-old son Anthony at the site of the bus bombing on Monday. Shaking with emotion and holding a picture of her son, Marie Fatayi-Williams declared: "We are waiting to know what happened to him and I, his mother, I need to know what happened to Anthony." And the husband of a missing university cleaner complained he had heard on television that his wife had been killed in the bus blast, even though officials had not informed him. "What the heck is going on? The BBC and Sky News are saying that Gladys is dead but no one has told me that," Emmanuel Wundowa told The Guardian newspaper. "I have been sitting down here and nobody is telling me anything. If they have got some information that is of benefit to me, why don’t they pass it on to me? We are in pieces here." Gladys Wundowa’s employers reported her as having died in the bus bombing but later retracted the information. FOREIGN SURPRISE Some foreign commentators have expressed astonishment that so few victims have been formally identified so far. They have drawn comparisons with the Madrid train bombings last year, when forensic scientists had identified about 50 bodies by the end of the day of the attacks. By Tuesday afternoon, authorities had named just three people who were killed in the London blasts. Two more had been formally identified but their names had yet to be released. Police stress they are dealing with a devastated crime scene spread over four sites, three of them underground. In many cases, bodies have been badly disfigured or blown apart. "It is a very harrowing task, an extremely complex and important task, and there is a procedure to be adhered to in order to identify victims properly," said police Superintendent Jim Dickie, a member of a commission identifying the victims. The commission includes a pathologist and an orthodontist and is chaired by a coroner, the local government official whose job is to establish an official cause of death. They are using fingerprints, dental records, and DNA testing to try to identify the victims. Previous experience suggests some families may have to wait weeks to know for sure if their loved ones have perished, although police have been in touch informally with many already. Officials have said they want to be extra careful as bodies have been wrongly identified in previous bomb attacks. "The worst thing would be either to give false confidence to someone or terrible news to someone and then find out it was wrong, that would add another layer of trauma," Defence Secretary Reid told BBC radio. |
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| Families feel pain of name delay First victim is identified but frustration grows among those waiting to hear fate of the missing Audrey Gillan and Owen Bowcott Tuesday July 12, 2005 The Guardian The first of the victims of last Thursday's bomb blasts was formally named yesterday as bereaved families began to vent their frustration at delays in identifying the dead. As the official death toll climbed to 52, the ability of Britain's ancient system of coroners' courts to cope with the scale of the atrocity was openly questioned. Susan Levy, 53, from Newgate Street village, Hertfordshire, was the first victim to be formally identified. She was travelling on the Piccadilly line train when an explosion destroyed one of the carriages shortly after 8.50am. The anguish of those searching for lost friends and relatives has been intensified by the prolonged uncertainty. In the confusion, University College London pre-empted any official statement and confirmed that one of its employees was among those killed, prompting widespread media coverage - only to retract its statement later in the day. Emmanuel Wundowa told the Guardian yesterday that the first he heard that his wife Gladys, a cleaner, had been identified as among the dead was on television. "The police have not identified my wife," he said. "What the heck is going on? The BBC and Sky News are saying that Gladys is dead but no one has told me that. It's not what the police told me, they have not identified her. "I have been sitting down here and nobody is telling me anything. If they have got some information that is of benefit to me, why don't they pass it on to me? We are in pieces here. We are still waiting for news of Gladys. People are going on air and telling the whole world that she is dead and she hasn't even been identified." Later University College corrected its earlier release and apologised. "Mrs Gladys Wundowa, a cleaner at UCL since 1989, is confirmed missing," it said. "UCL very much regrets having been the inadvertent cause of reports earlier regarding Mrs Wundowa ... This misunderstanding came about as a result of mistaken belief here at UCL that the family had been notified by the police." Other families also expressed frustration about the delay in identification. Graham Russell, the father of Philip Russell, who the family suspect was on the devastated number 30 bus, said: "The trouble is, you see, if your relative is missing you want to find them immediately, you don't want to find them tomorrow. Any delay is crucifying people." Several articles in Spanish newspapers have expressed shock at the time it has taken for information on the number and names of the dead to come out. Twenty-four hours after the train bombings in Madrid last year, Spaniards knew that at least 190 people had died. And by then most of the bodies had also been identified. Most were buried within three days of the attacks. An Identification Commission, chaired by a coroner, is formally coordinating the naming of the London dead. Its work is being slowed by the fact that many of the victims' bodies suffered horrendous injuries. In many cases little is left to be identified. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, pleaded with the public "to give us time. However terrible it is, we must take our time as we go through the identification process. We will identify people as quickly as we can." Talking about the scene, he said: "I have been told about the bodies piled up in the crowded carriage - you know what happens in a crowded tube when there is a bomb. It has been a dreadful scene and it is now getting slowly under control." Commander Dave Johnston, in charge of disaster victim identification, said the scale of the public's need for information was unprecedented. More than 100,000 calls have been received since Sunday morning and some 4,000 people are listed as among those who may have been injured or trapped by the bombs. "In the tsunami," said Cmdr Johnston, "we received 17,000 calls a day ... If somebody has rung us and they have turned up, they need to ring us back and tell us." The missing have been divided into three categories: those known to have been in the affected areas, those believed to have been in the area and those visiting or living in the capital who have not contacted anxious relatives. Most of the 4,000 unresolved cases reported to police are in the last category. A temporary mortuary - divided into four sections, one for the victims of each blast - has been established at the headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company in the City of London. It was set up in accordance with guidelines established under the London Mass Fatality Plan. Under the huge white tents, which cover more than 4,000 square metres (about 45,000 square feet), the meticulous process of identifying victims is being conducted by radiologists, forensic pathologists, fingerprint experts, photographers and DNA experts. Later this week some families are expected to be allowed to view the bodies of their loved ones laid out beside their possessions. Gary Pugh, director of Forensic Services, said yesterday: "We have to be absolutely sure when we make an identification, particularly in a disaster of this scale, that it is a true identification of the individual." Fingerprint records from the victims are being compared with samples taken from their homes. Dental records are being consulted. X-ray scans are being used to detect whether metals fragments are lodged in bodies. More than 70 family liaison officers are working closely with relatives to glean information that will make identification possible. Inquest, the organisation which supports the bereaved in coroners' courts, warned yesterday that the process may be slowed by a lack of resources. "There may be a conflict between the natural desire of families to begin the grieving process and the police saying they need more forensic tests," said Deborah Coles, of Inquest. In parliament, the prime minister acknowledged there had been delays and said it was the "most extraordinarily distressing time" for the bereaved. "In previous terrorist attacks of a similar kind in other countries," he added, "mistakes have been made which are incredibly distressing. The effect of a bomb is to make identification sometimes very, very hard and harrowing ... the only wise course is to follow precisely the advice of the coroner and police and that is what we will do." |
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| Two Irish Believed Dead in London By Mairead Carey Sympathizers leave flowers and messages at the British Embassy in Dublin last week after the London terror attack.The families of two Irish people believed to have been caught up in the London bombings are still awaiting news from the British police of their loved ones. The parents of 22-year-old Ciaran Cassidy are still contacting London’s hospitals in the hope that their son may be found alive. But almost all hope is gone. Ciaran’s father Sean, a 57-year postman from Swanlibar, Co. Cavan, now believes that his son is dead, killed in the attack on King’s Cross Station. Ciaran, who lives with his Irish parents and sister Lisa, 26, in the Finsbury Park area of the city, left home on Thursday morning and caught the underground to work, but his employer later contacted the family to say that he had not shown up. He is believed to be one of two Irish passport holders killed in the atrocity. The second is a young woman from New Zealand who is also an Irish passport holder. Ciaran Cassidy’s family have been critical of the way the investigation has been handled and particularly the delays in taking bodies from King’s Cross where investigators are still going through the wreckage. Sean Cassidy has expressed anguish and frustration at the delays in getting confirmation of their son’s fate from police. He met with the Irish Ambassador to the U.K. Daithi O Ceallaigh earlier this week in the hope that the Irish representative would be able to get more information about his son. He told reporters that police contacted the family on Sunday when a liaison officer visited their home to gather Ciaran’s details for identification purposes. But he has received no information since then. The family is relying on media reports about the bombings. “All the other families are in the same position, I think it really is a ridiculous situation. After four days we should be able to be told something or other,” he said. “We are still contacting the hospitals but he is not in the hospitals. People went around all the hospitals.” |
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| 07/07/2005 - Update: Explosions in London 08.51 - Liverpool Street Station - confirmed explosion in a carriage 100 yds into the (Liverpool St-bound station) tunnel. Walking wounded emerging from the line at Kings Cross. Believed train involved is Central or Circle. Seven confirmed fatalities, 10 seriously injured, 100 walking wounded. 8.56 - Kings Cross / Russell Sq incident - Both stations are being used to extract casualties. All injured have now been dealt with and at 12.30 LAS has withdrew from Russell Sq. Two mortuaries are being set up at the Royal National Hotel and the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury. 21 confirmed fatalities and others injured. 09.17 Explosion on train coming into Edgware Road underground station approx. 100 yards in the tunnel. There was an explosion on a train which blew through a wall onto another train on an adjoining platform. There five fatalities and others injured. Three trains believed involved. 09.47 Explosion on a bus at Upper Woburn Square junction with Tavistock Place. There are fatalities still on the bus - not known how many. We estimate many casualties. There were four devices in total. There was no warning to police and we have not received any claims of responsibility. It was a callous attack on purely innocent members of the public deliberately designed to kill and inflict maximum injury. 11.52 All London hospitals full. Source |
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| 12/07/2005 - Update: London explosions Four further people have been identified as a result of the Identity Commission sitting. Prior to inquest opening on Wednesday 13.7.05 at St Pancras Coroners Court two of the families have agreed for their relatives names to be made public. These are: Mr Jamie Gordon. The family of Jamie Gordon will be issuing a statement today and have requested that all media enquiries for the family are directed through 020 7984 2000. Mr Philip Stuart Russell, (11.7.76) from Kennington, Oval, London SW8. The families of the two other deceased that have had their identities confirmed have requested that the names are only made public once the inquest has been opened and it is then a matter of public record. All four were recovered from the Tavistock Square site. This brings the total confirmed identities to five. 1. Mrs Susan Levy, (17.12.51) of 31 Newgate Street Village, Cuffley, Herts. An inquest was opened and adjourned at St Pancras Coroners Court on 11.7.05. 2. Mr Jamie Gordon. An inquest will open on Wednesday 13.7.05 at St Pancras Coroners Court. 3. Mr Philip Stuart Russell, (11.7.76) of Kennington, Oval, London SW8. An inquest will open on Wednesday 13.7.05 at St Pancras Coroners Court. 4. Name to be confirmed at request of family only after inquest has opened on Wednesday 13.7.05 at St Pancras Coroners Court . 5. Name to be confirmed at request of family only after inquest has opened on Wednesday 13.7.05 at St Pancras Coroners Court . Source |
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| Two mortuaries are being set up at the Royal National Hotel and the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury. |
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| Public Mortuary Service The Public Health Act 1936 gives local authorities power to provide a mortuary for the reception of bodies and the carrying out of post-mortems and the City of London has been providing HM Coroner for the City of London with a public mortuary for many years. The City of London also has contingency plans to deal with circumstances where the existing mortuary used is unable to cope - eg a transport accident or terrorist incident resulting in large numbers of deaths. Responsibility for provision of temporary mortuary facilities are allocated to the Department of Environmental Services. Other mortuary services * To provide for the dignified and respectful receipt, storage and examination of deceased persons as requested by the HM Coroner * To assist appointed Pathologists with autopsies * To provide facilities for the dignified viewing of the deceased persons by relatives (usually for identification purposes) * To liaise with relatives or funeral undertakers for the collection of the deceased person and any belongings following release by the HM Coroner. * To be an integral part of the London-wide disaster response plans in conjunction with the City of London Security and Contingency Planning Group, City of London Police and the London Resilience Forum. For the City this service is currently contracted to be provided on behalf of the City of London by the London Borough of Camden at their St. Pancras Public Mortuary. Any enquiries concerning this service for The City of London “Square Mile” please contact: |
| QUOTE ("London Mass Fatality Plan") |
| Definitions 3. A Disaster Mortuary is a mortuary used following an incident involving a large number of fatalities. It may be situated in an existing mortuary (Designated) or at a specially prepared site (The Resilience Mortuary) 4. A Designated Disaster Mortuary is an existing mortuary in each of the eight Coroners’ areas in London. Each designated mortuary has a given capacity (whole body or less if disruption is significant). 5. A Resilience Mortuary is a pre-fabricated structure which is on standby, ready to be called out. It is likely to be required if there are more than 75 fatalities, but may be required for lower numbers in certain areas. The Mass Fatality Coordination Team will agree the location for the Resilience Mortuary at the time of the incident, in consultation with the MOD. |
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| The security of the Mortuary requires a dedicated secure location source |
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| Lessons of 9/11 help in delicate task of identifying blast victims Sophie Goodchild reports on a complex and sensitive forensic investigation Published: 17 July 2005 A few have already received the news they have been dreading, that their children, relatives or friends were among those who lost their lives in Britain's worst terrorist atrocity. But for other families the agonising wait drags on and the long mourning process cannot begin, because incomplete remains may be all that is left of their loved ones. Efforts to identify victims have been hampered by the advanced decomposition of some bodies and by the fact that the blasts took place in confined spaces which made injuries more extensive. The harrowing task of identifying all the victims of the bombings is expected to take weeks. Inquests have already been opened at coroner's courts across the capital, including those at Westminster and St Pancras, into the deaths of the 41 identified so far. This paper has learnt that Scotland Yard is drafting in a leading forensic expert who was instrumental in identifying victims of mass killings in Kosovo after the 1999 Nato bombing campaign. Dr Louise Scheuer, a forensic anthropologist who already has experience working with the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorist team, will be on standby to help with the process of establishing the identities of the dead. Forensic anthropology involves the analysis of human remains which is critical to the successful outcome of the investigation. However, the process is expected to be complicated because of the fragmentation of the bodies. In an interview with this paper, Dr Scheuer, from the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London, said that remains from all four blast sites were being examined separately. Dr Scheuer, who was expected to meet the bomb investigation team yesterday, said: "You have to be really sure, otherwise the emotional consequences [for the families] are terrible. In theory two people could have the same tattoo." Every body part recovered by the forensic teams working on the investigation is given an individual serial number. In reassembling the bodies investigators can work out the exact direction of the blast and the location of the bombers, whose remains are also being identified. Israeli experts involved in analysing suicide bomb attacks have demonstrated that bombers experience a distinct pattern of trauma on their bodies. The fact the No 30 bus and the Tube trains were crowded with commuters means that some people were buffeted from the effects of the blast. But the force of the explosion would have passed through the bodies of those closest to the bombers like gunshot, causing massive external and internal injuries. The highly detailed body recovery operation is based on lessons learnt from 9/11 and other disasters, including Lockerbie and the King's Cross fire. Forensic teams identifying victims from the World Trade Center attacks found tissue from different victims had merged, leading to inaccurate identifications. All remains from the 7 July atrocities are being taken to a mortuary at the Honourable Artillery Company in the City set up specially to cope with the mass fatalities. Pathologists are studying remains of clothing from victims, personal documents such as credit cards and driving licences, and distinctive body marks such as scars or tattoos. More sophisticated techniques include matching teeth to dental records, facial recognition and DNA testing, results of which can now be turned round in 24 hours. But experts say that even DNA testing cannot be relied upon absolutely. Dr Tal Simmons, a forensic anthropologist from the University of Central Lancashire who has worked in Bosnia and on air crash sites, said: "The issue is getting data from siblings and not going to hairbrushes and toothbrushes which are often shared." As with 9/11, relatives of victims are being given the option of holding a funeral with the body incomplete or of being informed each time more remains are recovered. Full inquests for the bomb victims are not expected to be heard until next year at the earliest and may never take place. A crown court trial where the jury hears detailed evidence about a crime involving fatalities takes precedence over a coroner's court. Dr Andrew Reid, HM coroner for Inner North London, said the priority was to return remains to the victims' relatives as soon as possible and to tailor recovery so that those of different religions and cultures were treated with equal respect and sensitivity. |
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| The Honourable Artillery Company has a long and distinguished history as the oldest regiment in the British Army, and was the first regiment to be granted by the City of London the privilege of marching through the streets with drums beating, colours flying and bayonets fixed. The Company has a close working relationship with the City of London. The Company was established by Letters Patent issued by Henry VIII in August 1537, although the true date of the Company's origin is unknown. Its Headquarters are at Armoury House, City Road London EC1, just outside the City Boundary in the Borough of Islington. This has been the Headquarters of the HAC since 1641. Today, the HAC Regiment is part of the Territorial Army and is an important part of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Force. In addition, the Regiment carries out ceremonial duties in the City, providing Guards of Honour and firing Salutes from the Tower of London. The HAC Detachment of Special Constabulary continues the Company's tradition of maintaining law and order among the citizens of London. Its veteran members who belong to the Company of Pikemen & Musketeers retain the link with the Mayoralty by serving as the Lord Mayor's bodyguard. For further information on the Honourable Artillery Company, please visit the HAC web site. |
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| The HAC own their own drill hall (Armoury House), a 17th century stately home, and the castle building attached, Finsbury Barracks (they lease that bit to the Army - it's draughty and the roof leaks). There are two parts to the HAC; the civilian side called the Company, a registered charity 'for the setting out of soldiers', which holds the titles to the land and buildings and the nicer half of the Brecon Beacons; and the military side called the Regiment. The Regiment is made up of Squadrons: * 1,2,and 3 Squadron are classed as the 'sabre' squadrons, whose role is a very demanding and rare one. So rare that it is the ONLY reservist/part time unit in NATO to have the Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) role. This is a long range reconnaissance job, resulting in long periods of time being spent in Observation Posts (OPs), covertly, or mixed up with other troops in an overt OP. It is a very physically demanding job, with patrols carrying all of their food and water plus operationally specific equipment, on their backs, for up to three weeks. wiki |
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| Experts counsel families, try to identify London bomb missing LONDON (AFP) Jul 10, 2005 Counsellors helped distraught families of those missing in the London bomb attacks Sunday while delicately teasing information from them to identify bodies pulled from the scene. At a 24-hour assistance centre, specially trained officers helped people still searching for their loved ones, while at Heathrow Airport officers waited for families flying in from abroad. Some cared for people at city morgues, and others were sent to homes to handle the sensitive and time-consuming task of standing by those who have almost certainly lost a family member. Samples of fingerprints and DNA, including from toothbrushes and hairbrushes, are being discreetly taken to help with the identification process. The Thursday morning rush hour attacks on London's public transport network killed at least 49 people and injured around 700. At least 25 others are thought to be missing. With no bodies identified, their families are in anguish. "I just don't know what to do. I'm going crazy," said Gous Ali, whose girlfriend Neetu Jain has vanished since boarding a downtown bus to go to work. "It is very harrowing. The police have just been to see me to take a sample of my DNA," said Pawel Iskrzynski, whose sister Ania Brandt also went missing. "I hope it is to prove that Ania is still alive and lying injured in hospital," he said. "It's the wait that is the worst," said the "emotionally drained" sister of missing hair stylist Phil Beer. "There is nothing we can do." According to senior London police spokesman Brian Paddick, dozens of expert "liaison officers" have been sent to visit relatives and friends. At the Queen Mother leisure centre, around 100 police and staff supported by helpers from the British Red Cross, Salvation Army and several local authorities were at work. Outside, a tight security cordon guarded their privacy. As they arrived, family and friends were greeted by a police family liaison officer trained to deal with people in distress. They can then speak to other agencies, getting help with anything from counselling and psychological support to practicalities like housing and travel for relatives who have come from outside London. Some stay for several hours, many are deeply distressed. "The purpose of this is to bring things together so we can reduce the distress to families by having them come to one place where they can access all their needs," said Commander Steve Allen from the Metropolitan Police. It is also about identifying bodies in the most subtle way possible. "Identification is a matter for the coroner but one of the key functions of the family liaison officer is to access the information from the families to help to do that," he said. Allen said that would include descriptions, identifying the missing person's travel patterns and in some cases obtaining DNA and fingerprints. Staff at the centre included people who had helped in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in Asia last Christmas eve, said a spokeswoman from the British Red Cross, Liz Page. "The needs of people in these circumstances vary a lot. Some people may need someone to talk to for a while. Some may be extremely distressed," she said. "Our people are trained to hear some very difficult things." After a visit to the centre, Britain's Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that about 33 families had come through in the first 24 hours that it had been open. "If families are wondering where they should come, this is the place," she said. "It is a very important and excellent source of information gathering and advice for families." TerraDaily |
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| N.Wales major gets honour for 7/7 role Feb 17 2006 By DAVID POWELL, Daily Post The Queen invests Major Muriel McClenahan with her OBE A NORTH Wales woman who drew up 999 plans to rescue London's July 7 terrorist attack victims was last night celebrating a top royal award. Muriel McClenahan travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive an OBE from the Queen. The Salvation Army major was given the honour for her "extraordinary services to the communities of London". It marked the 56-year-old's "significant role" after the London attacks in which 56 people died and 700 were injured. She helped set up a temporary mortuary within 24 hours and the UK's first family assistance centre. Last night Major McClenahan called the award "exciting" but said it left her with mixed feelings. "It's a very strange one. It is unbelievable and exciting but you are aware you have got it out of somebody else ' s tragedy." She said: "The Queen said she understood I had one of the more depressing roles on July 7 and that the Salvation Army had played a significant role in the response." Mrs McClenahan was born in Cefn Mawr, Wrexham, and attended Ruabon Grammar School. In 1971 she joined the Salvation Army building up her pastoral and logistical skills over a 35-year career. And in 2000, she took a masters degree in emergency management at the University of Hertfordshire. For the last 15 years she has supported emergency services in London. This involved serving soup from canteen vehicles to fire-fighters and gave pastoral support to bereaved relatives. And on July 7 she co-wrote the Mass Fatality Plan, helping emergency workers and volunteers react quickly to help bomb victims. Currently Major McClenahan is on secondment from the Salvation Army to the London Resilience Team. Her husband Robert is also 56 and is also a major in the Salvation Army. They have two daughters Dawn, 32, an emergency service worker, and Karen, 26, a firefighter. The McClenahans also have three granddaughters Olivia, six, Grace, two, and one-year-old Lily. The July 7 2005 London bombings were a series of coordinated suicide bombings that struck London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three bombs exploded within 50 seconds of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus at 9.47am in Tavistock Square. The incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the UK since Lockerbie (the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which killed 270), and the deadliest bombing in London since the Second World War. Source Source (Page 2) |
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| My diary of disaster Jul 6 2006 By Roland Hughes , Daily Post SALVATION Army Major Muriel McClenahan was at the centre of London's emergency response on July 7. The 57-year-old, originally from Cefn Mawr, Wrexham, drafted amass fatality plan for the London Resilience Team set up after the 9/11 attacks. In January she was handed an OBE for her "extraordinary services to the communities of London" in the wake of the terror attacks. In an exclusive interview to mark the first anniversary of the terrorist atrocity of the she describes how the fateful day unfolded. 9am "I was the duty officer for the London Resilience Team that day so was on call to go out to anything. "At around 9am Iwas at the Salvation Army headquarters at Elephant and Castle and was supposed to be receiving a long-service award at 10am. "It was going to be abig day for me and as Iwalked through the door my pager went off saying there was something untoward happening at Liverpool Street. "I thought straight away that if it was just untoward my pager wouldn't have gone off. It doesn't happen that often. "From then it was just a waiting game." 9.25am "I got another message saying it was total disruption on the underground and it was being evacuated. "That, in London, is amassive event. You are talking about 1,000 people in each train at rush-hour and the streets were totally blocked with people trying to walk about. "The strangest thing was not seeing transport on the roads. People were walking down the middle of the roads, there were no buses, no cars, no taxis, nothing. It was quite eerie. " Evacuating the underground was amassive thing to do even if there hadn't have been bombs involved." 10am "I walked all the way back to the Resilience Team office in Millbank, and by the time I got there, events were unfolding in front of our eyes. "By then the bus had gone off at Tavistock Square and it was clear what was happening. We immediately realised it was something big. "We were just in the office watching it on Sky like everybody else. It was as up-to-date as the information could be. "Nobody had any idea to what extent the fatalities would be so we had to get as much information as possible as quickly as possible and get a good overall picture. "But while we were all working, Istill had to think whether the members of my family were OK and how Icommunicated to them that Iwas OK. "My very personal emotions were mixed in with my professional performance and there was aclash, areal conflict. But you just had to get on with the job. "My own son-in-law, a policeman, was in Tavistock Square when the bus bomb went off and my daughter was anxious to get hold of him. [was this the one who was following behind the bus in a car?] "She didn't hear from him until 3pm in the end because he had been helping the victims." 1pm "We stayed at Millbank just assessing the information and getting as much news as we could before heading off. "At that point astrategic coordination group was set up, at alocation Ican't reveal, and all the leaders of all the agencies came together to discuss our reaction. "We are the team that acts as the link between the government and the emergency services so we fed the information on to aselect group of ministers in the government. "All the information about what had happened was going backwards and forwards through us through videolink. "The mass fatality plan which Idrafted had, ironically, been returned to us only 10 days before so it was all very new. "So although it was new paper we knew exactly what to do in principle and we got down to it." 4pm "We made the decision to set up atemporary mortuary for the victims. "The majority of mortuaries in London are Victorian mortuaries, used every day, so we proposed ademountable structure that could be used as a temporary mortuary in London. So that was the plan that was activated. "It was abuilding with solid walls that covered the size of two football pitches which was eventually set up in amilitary barracks. "All the information came to us but the one difficult thing to know was the amount of deaths. Until people got down to search the underground, we just didn't know. "The worst case scenario was hundreds and hundreds of deaths and we would have been prepared. But people in emergency services never speculate. Only the media speculated." 11pm-1am "We moved from our location back to the Mill-bank offices and at 1am we went for asite visit where the mortuary was already being set up. "There were 250 people working in the mortuary for the best part of three months. "It was only when you saw the ambulances coming in, knowing there were human remains inside, that it sunk in what had happened. "Then it became real. People came into the mortuary to see their loved ones and you realised there and then some-body's life had changed forever." 3.10am "The day ended and we were put up in ahotel for the night. We were all back up by 7am so it wasn't along night's sleep. "We were all obviously tired but we knew we had ajob to do. But because we all worked together on a day-to-day basis, there was areal under-standing between us and we all supported each other. "The day made me realise, in spite of such tremendous wickedness, there are also people who do extraordinary things to ensure that the people affected are treated as kindly as possible. "There was areal goodness I saw in people who may not necessarily have faith but worked for the good of everyone that day - call that what you like. "It showed that wickedness does not get equalled out by more wickedness - but by the goodness that is shown. "Faith leaders stood, together, very strongly against what happened. "This was agroup of people who, although they were Muslim, did not fully take on the Muslim spirit in the Koran. "It has also made me realise that, in traumatic times, people do turn to faith for support. "Many people who came to the mortuary didn't want anybody of faith there. "But as soon as they viewed their loved-ones, they asked for someone from the Salvation Army and prayed together. "Rather than make me question my faith, it has actually confirmed my faith in the fundamental goodness of people." Source |
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| DNA is located in the nucleus of a cell and forms the total composition of an individual. DNA is very repetitious. Nearly 99.9% of every person’s DNA is the same, with differences in roughly 1/1000 “base pairs.” The differences in base pairs are what make each person unique and are, therefore, the focus of DNA analysis. Physical features that are seen in a person, as a result of differences in base pairs, are what scientists call an individual’s “phenotype.” DNA: FORENSIC AND LEGAL APPLICATIONS [PDF] By: Lawrence Koblinsky, Thomas F. Liotti, Jamel Oeser-Sweat |
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| Lord Falconer of Thoroton Constitutional Affairs Secretary and Lord Chancellor Coroner's society annual conference The Moat House, York London 30 September 2005 Introduction Good morning. Thank you very much for inviting me to open your conference this morning. I'm genuinely delighted to join you today. Welcome to DCA It's nearly four months since my Department took over responsibility for the Coroners service. I am glad to have the opportunity to welcome you in person to the Department and to say how pleased I am that we will be working together. You should have been in a relationship with the Department a long time ago. The work you do is so important. You do the vital work of determining who the deceased is and where, when and how they died. In so many cases you and your staff bring consolation to the families of bereaved - and often very distressed - people. In very many cases you improve the way public services do their work - identifying what's gone wrong and where we can make progress. 7th July attacks - visit to mortuary The work you do is uppermost in the public mind when we think of the most tragic events. Soon after the appalling attacks of July the 7th in London, I visited the temporary mortuary in the City of London. The four incidents occurred in three coronial districts. The three coroners involved co-operated magnificently and did their initial work on those cases together on the one site in the City of London, which was put up in a miraculously short number of hours after the incident. In the most difficult of circumstances, responding to the most dreadful outrages, the work of the coroners there, and all who worked with and for them was utterly extraordinary. Extreme, I know. Not typical - thank God - of the work you do. But in its extremity, what I saw on that visit seemed to me to encapsulate the very best of what you do. Sitting in on the committee, chaired by the three coroners involved, reaching determinations on the identities of the deceased, what I saw as each case, each issue, was considered was a range of responses. Carefulness. Caution. Consideration. Compassion. And everything and everyone across the whole site, at every level, was exactly in line with that. The arrangements for the receipt of the families. In the face of incomprehensible pain, real compassion - to provide privacy, to provide support, to provide practical assistance, to provide dignity, in death. The careful computer matching of bodies and identities, by people so tired from working 18-hour days, every day since the bombings, that their heads were slumped against their screens as they worked. But working on, working ceaselessly, to give comfort to the bereaved. Never seeing what they had as a number: because pasted on the wall where they worked, so that they saw them every time they looked up, were the pictures and names of all those killed. Real people. Real lives - cut cruelly short by the terrorists. Extreme carefulness, caution, consideration, compassion. Extraordinary responses in an extraordinary situation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and to pay tribute to the three coroners involved - Paul Knapman, Andrew Reid, Paul Matthews - who did an exemplary job. They are ambassadors for the coronial service. Horrible though it was, it was my introduction to the coronial service, so I start hugely impressed by the work you do. I would also like to pay tribute to all those, military, police, medical and civilian, who worked with them. As I came away that evening, I know I was appalled by the impact of the bombs, and utterly disgusted by the destructiveness of the terrorist attacks. And at exactly the same time, enormously uplifted by what I had seen too. I was deeply impressed by the care, sensitivity, and sheer professionalism of the work of the coroners: work carried out in the most testing of circumstances. I saw for myself a highly complex and highly skilled response to a truly horrific situation. Public service at its best. This was not normal. Many of you will rarely, if ever, have to face such a situation. But I have no doubt - absolutely no doubt at all - that, God forbid, if you were, you would respond in exactly the same way, and do respond now in the work you do, with the same care, the same caution, the same consideration, the same compassion. Proper care and support for bereaved people, ensuring their welfare, is central to our response. This applies as much to large-scale tragic events such as those in July, as it does to the deaths that don't make the national headlines. Both are of significance and importance. Both result in personal sadness for someone. Both require the best possible response we can provide. The way the state responds to those who have been bereaved is critical. We need to make reforms and improvements in these areas - building on what we do well and what works. Better response for bereaved people You join a Department already looking at similar issues. We are undergoing a significant programme to improve the way victims are treated in court: developing better facilities in court buildings; improving standards of care; and taking steps to ensure the voices of victims are formally heard in murder cases. This is a part of an important shift in the way public services are delivered - putting the law-abiding member of the public in the centre-ground. Sometimes bureaucratic processes can appear daunting and unresponsive. Services need to be shaped not around what is best for us, but around what is best for the bereaved person. This means explaining what can appear a complex process clearly and simply, listening to what people want, and acting on what they say. This is what the best coroners do already. I want to make sure what works best, works everywhere. And I want to know from you how one can make this happen. Family Charter One way is through a national Family Charter - so bereaved people know what your role is; know what standards of service they should receive; and know what opportunities they have to participate in the process. Many of you already have a charter in your area - but I will be writing to you shortly to ask you about your experience of how that has worked. This is not about we in Government telling you how to do the job. Quite the reverse. You know what makes a difference. I want to make sure that what works well locally, translates into national excellence. In the longer term, I want to go further and to move towards national expectations and standards through an overhauled Charter. This will be an important part of the reform programme. Where else can we make progress? The fact that bereaved people are treated as interested parties in coroner investigations - and have the opportunity to ask questions and to contribute both to investigations and to inquest proceedings - is vital. The involvement of the bereaved is likely to lead to a better overall investigation and a more accurate conclusion. That must continue and be enhanced in a reformed service. It will not eradicate grief or pain, but it can go some way towards mitigating it. It will give the bereaved the opportunity to get the answers to questions, some of which may be simple and straightforward. Left unchecked these could fester and lead to a sense of injustice - dealt with promptly and courteously they can help make a difficult situation bearable. We must also improve the appeals and complaints system. Mistakes do happen. It's important we have an open, transparent and fair process for dealing with them. And, where people wish to appeal against a finding you have made, this needs to be done in a more accessible and easy to use way than at present. The support bereaved people receive prior to attending inquests is important too. I commend the improvement in written information that is available and, in particular, the court support services that have been established in some parts of the country. In all these areas, bereaved people need to be at the centre of a reformed service, not at the margins or beyond. Dealing with coroners concerns But I am sure you are thinking too about what the new relationship with DCA means for your future, and the future of your coroners' officers, your administrative staff and others who support you in your duties. You, and they, have already had too many years of uncertainty. The fundamental review and the Shipman Inquiry were, by necessity, thorough and painstaking, and were both impressive pieces of work. The Government's Position Paper last year articulated our vision. Moving from that to a White Paper has meant engaging in complex areas - this is a significant programme of reform, looking at practice, procedure, policy, culture and organisation. Legislation and demands for new funding, which are central to any effective reform, are subject to overall Government decisions on priorities for the availability of Parliamentary time and resources. The transfer to my department has inevitably added time, because I needed, with Harriet Harman, to review the position in detail. But I will not delay longer than necessary. I will set out our proposals early next year and will publish a draft bill, which we have already announced as part of this session's Parliamentary business. Let me reassure you. These plans will retain what you do well. I don't want change for the sake of change. But I do want to deal with the weaknesses and look honestly at where need to improve. Undoubtedly, we have a service with talented, skilled, hard-working and committed people - at all levels of the service. It's a service that provides an important function - a function that nobody doubts must continue. You already have a locally based service and, in many cases, a high reputation and standing in your area. You have strong links with other professionals - in health, law enforcement and registration services. And, as I highlighted earlier, bereaved people already have a voice at inquests. These are your strengths. But as Dame Janet Smith, Tom Luce and others have identified - there are a number of areas where we need to take action: * effective investigations and good services to the bereaved provided by you and your staff, it is usually in spite of the infrastructure which is in place and not because of it; * management of the service, even at a local level, is cumbersome or insufficiently attended to - with both local authorities and police authorities having a role in the management and employment of support staff. And sometimes it is not at the top of their priorities; * you are fettered by statutory restrictions based on excessively territorial principles - which mean you can only investigate deaths within your geographical jurisdiction; * there is a lack of common standards of working practice across the country, and inconsistency in performance; * for many, coroner work is a part-time occupation and may not be the prime focus of their working life; * the coroner service, despite the excellent work of the Coroners' Society of England and Wales, has no national leadership. It is fragmented, and has no obvious accountability for how it operates or how it uses public funds. Future vision So, what sort of service would we like to have in place? These are the kinds of things we have in mind. Following new legislation, I want to see a service that operates on a unified and national basis across England and Wales. This will not challenge independence for your investigation of individual cases and your judicial decision-making. But it will mean you will have strong links with this department, national leadership, uniform standards and guidelines applying across the country. The service would consist primarily of a national network of coroners, their deputies and local teams. I want a service with full-time coroners. Your coroner's officers and support staff would have better direct management. You and they would have the opportunity to receive more and better training and development which responds to gaps in knowledge and experience. New appointees to the service would receive a comprehensive induction programme. I envisage that coroners would continue to be responsible for a geographical area, but there would be far greater flexibility to act cross-boundary as a national service. We want scope for those of you who have built up expertise in particular kinds of cases, or particular types of incidents, to be deployed to deal with similar ones, with a guarantee that your existing workload would be dealt with. There would be an end to archaic provisions, such as bodies being removed for post mortems only within your own area or to a neighbouring area. These kinds of changes would help generally in providing a flexible service, and they would be particularly valuable in responding to the kind of major incidents I referred to earlier. You would be given improved powers of discretion on whether to proceed to inquest where a separate investigation into the death is taking place. And we are looking at the position of those cases where it is arguable that no public interest would be served in holding an inquest, as in some suicide or infant death cases. In complex cases, you would have discretionary powers to hold pre-inquest hearings in open court. And in a small number of particularly challenging cases, the Lord Chief Justice might have a power to appoint a judge to act as temporary coroner. Children would be able to give their evidence by video link, or in a cleared courtroom, just as they can in some circumstances in certain criminal cases, and you would have powers to prevent publication of the details of any child affected by the proceedings. The Government's reform proposals must also address the defects identified in the death certification process, which relate closely to medical regulation. The position paper last year proposed a system of medical teams and advisers linked to local coroners. In some ways this is one of the most complex aspects of the reform programme, and one where there are particularly close links with other plans the Government is taking forward at present. I am considering with colleagues the best way of achieving our objectives here, so that we can make a public announcement as soon as possible. White Paper/Draft Bill As well as a future vision of the service, this gives you a preview of one or two of the proposals that will be described in more detail in our White Paper. As I have said, we expect to publish it very soon, probably early in 2006. I am also committed to producing a draft bill for pre-legislative scrutiny during this parliamentary session, and that is expected to follow in the spring. Your views on both of these documents will be very much welcomed. I am sure the scrutiny committee in Parliament will be interested in evidence from you as individuals or through your national representatives. But, for all of us, these are further stages on the journey to the final destination. Subject to Parliamentary time, we will be introducing an actual Bill in the second session starting in November 2006. If we can secure Royal Assent some time in 2007, then implementation work can begin in earnest. It may seem some time ahead, but there is a timetable in place. That is when we will need your co-operation above all. To maintain the momentum with current cases. And to be active supporters of and participants in the reform programme within your areas. There will be challenges, of course, but by working closely together and respecting each other's duties and responsibilities, I believe they can be overcome. Conclusions To conclude, my impression of the Coroners service is an immensely positive one and I am delighted to have you as part of the Department of Constitutional Affairs family. You provide an important, much-needed and valued service. A service which, delivered well, can help public policy, and bereaved families, immensely. But I recognise that there has been a period of uncertainty and that change can be unsettling. I would like to give my guarantee, also on behalf of Harriet Harman, that we will work closely with you as we take forward these reforms. And we will make changes because they matter, because they make a difference. To you and your hard-working staff, but above all to the bereaved families who, in their most desperate moments, look to us - who look to you - for answers and for support. Thank you very much. I wish you well for a successful conference. source |
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A NORTH Wales woman who drew up 999 plans to rescue London's July 7 terrorist attack victims was last night celebrating a top royal award. Muriel McClenahan travelled to Buckingham Palace to receive an OBE from the Queen. |
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| Also made OBEs were Major Muriel McClenahan, of the Salvation Army, for co-ordinating support from faith and voluntary sectors source:BBC |
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| Major Muriel McClenahan, (OBE) of the Salvation Army and London Resilience Team. Co-wrote the mass fatality plan put into action on 7 July and helped relatives visiting the temporary mortuary near Old Street, east London. source;BBC |
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| London Resilience Team The London Resilience Team (LRT) is an organized partnership between key authorities within the rescue service and emergency management planning sector. The London Resilience Team was established after September 11th, 2001 to serve as a link between the “blue light” sector and the government. Participants are government authorities, organizations and private companies including actors within police, fire, ambulance, military, local authorities, health, transport, critical infrastructure, industry and volunteer organizations as well as government on the local, regional and national level. At the national level, the Home Secretary and the National Resilience Committee lead such efforts. All regions in Great Britain have their own regional Resilience Teams for regional cooperation and command. Representatives of various participating authorities work for the London Resilience Team (Leonard, 2005, personal interview, Bryce, 2005, personal interview, Beasly, 2005, personal interview). Since London is a city of many different cultures and ethnicities, a structure for handling crises with victims from various religions and origins exists. For this purpose, the London Resilience Team has a special working group that works with questions concerning religious groups and multiculturism, known as the Multi Faith Working Group, whose work is led by the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has been given this task since most religious groups accept them, because they are seen as a church not connected to the establishment, the state and the Church of England (McClenahan, 2005, personal interview). |
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| A senior Metropolitan Police officer has also had a special assignment to gather all the lessons that were taken from New York (McClenahan, 2005, personal interview). |
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| In the aftermath of the bombings confusion was widespread. The London Ambulance Service had not achieved its task to track the casualties (Edmondson, 2005, personal interview). People did not know if their loved ones were in hospital. At the hospitals there was also an element of confusion, as staff did not know who the patients were (McClenahan, 2005, personal interview). |
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| A Family Assistance Center had never been set up following an emergency in the UK. The planning grew out of what was set up following 9/11 in the U.S. But there were no actual plans in place to set up a family assistance center, although guidance was being written. A few drafts had gone out. But that was not on general release at the time of the bombings (McClenahan, 2005, personal interview) |
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| At about 12 o’clock on Friday night, 8 July the meeting was held at Westminster City Hall. The first point on the agenda was to find premises that could open quickly for visitors so that they had a focal point where they could go. The local authority suggested a sports center nearby. The venue seemed good enough for a temporary center and, as the local authority had the keys to the premises, they were able to access the building in the middle of the night (McClenahan, 2005 personal interview). A temporary 24-hour family assistance center was then set up at the Queen Mother Sports Centre on Vauxhall Bridge Road, near Victoria station in London (BBC, July 10, 2005b). The main aims of the center was to “provide face to face contact for those experiencing distress; offer a central location for information and humanitarian assistance; and gather information and intelligence that will help police inquiries” (Culture.gov.uk, July 9, 2005). |
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| Two mortuaries are being set up - these are at the Royal National Hotel and the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury. Source: Metropolitan Police statement, 7th July 2005, 16:30 |
| QUOTE (The Antagonist @ May 5 2007, 05:41 PM) |
| Blue light and emergency services vs Corporate alternatives, perhaps? |
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| About us – Advisors Kevin Gordon Kevin is a Police Sergeant with over 30 years experience in the British Transport Police (BTP). Since March 2003 he has been seconded to the London Resilience Team. (LRT) - Part of the Government Office for London . After working on a number of major incidents and crimes, Kevin became the HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) Liaison Officer for the BTP. He has been attached to a number of Incident Rooms throughout the country and after the 9/11 attacks assisted running the Casualty Bureau at New Scotland Yard. Kevin was the Office Manager establishing the Police Incident Rooms following the Selby, Hatfield and Potters Bar Train Crashes. Kevin’s role in the LRT is to act as a liaison officer with his home force. He has also been responsible for developing the Mass Fatality and Disaster Mortuary Plans for London . This plan was activated following the Tsunami of 26 th December 2004 and Kevin worked at Fulham Mortuary to ensure that facilities were in place for the repatriation of the British victims. He also worked to establish the Resilience Mortuary in the aftermath of the bomb attacks in London on 7 th July 2005 and remained a key member of the mortuary management team until the facility was decommissioned. Kevin lives in Sussex and is a keen local and police historian. |
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| London victims identified 19/07/2005 07:54 - (SA) London - All the bodies which were removed from the bombed London Underground trains and a double-decker bus and taken to a makeshift mortuary have been identified, a coroner said on Monday. "Shortly after midday on Sunday July 17, the 55 bodies in the Resilience Mortuary had been identified," said the coroner, Doctor Paul Knapman. "Inquests into most have already been opened and adjourned at either Westminster Coroner's Court or St Pancras Coroner's Court," he said in a statement. Police said earlier that the number of confirmed dead in the July 7 bombings in London rose to 56 on Monday, having reported that two of them had died in the hospital of their injuries. It was not clear if the toll would now climb to 57 dead. Source: News24.com |
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| Several articles in Spanish newspapers have expressed shock at the time it has taken for information on the number and names of the dead to come out. Twenty-four hours after the train bombings in Madrid last year, Spaniards knew that at least 190 people had died. And by then most of the bodies had also been identified. Most were buried within three days of the attacks. Source: The Guardian |
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| X-Ray Wayne’s team were on hand from Bosnia to London Radiographer helped identify bodies after 7/7 bombings in temporary morgue A RADIOGRAPHER who helped bring war criminals to justice whilst working for the United Nations (UN) in the war-torn former Yugoslavia played a crucial role in the aftermath of the London bombings.  In 2000, Wayne Hoban (pictured) teamed up with UN forensic experts to gather evidence from mass graves in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. He had to X-ray thousands of the dead to find cause of death and also X-ray bags suspected of being booby trapped with grenades or razor blades. His work helped bring many war criminals to justice. After returning from the Balkans in 2002, Mr Hoban – now the superintendent radiographer at the Royal Free Hospital – decided to set up a team of emergency response radiographers in anticipation of a terrorist attack in London. On July 7, Mr Hoban’s team went into action as bombs ripped through the city. His specialist team, The Association of Forensic Radiographers, were immediately called upon to equip and co-ordinate the X-ray service at a temporary mortuary in the City Road, King’s Cross. For three weeks, Mr Hoban helped police identify bomb blast victims by comparing post mortem radiology and dental X-ray records with those in the victims’ medical records. Mr Hoban later learnt that one of an ex-colleague from the radiography department at St Thomas’s hospital died in the bombings. Mr Hoban spoke of his horrific experience. He said: “I was glad that I only found that out after I left the mortuary. We were already under considerable demands. I could have easily come across her in a body bag. That would have been too much. Since Mr Hoban returned from the former Yugoslavia he has lobbied the government to bring radiography into the digital age. And for the first time in the UK, digital and computed radiography systems were employed in the temporary mortuary. Mr Hoban believed the digital system was an invaluable resource. He said: “Digital X-ray images can be manipulated on a display screen, allowing a variety of different structures to be visualised on the same image.” CNJ |
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A temporary emergency mortuary is set up in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in the City of London, Monday, July 11, 2005, to house the bodies from last week's bombing attacks on London.(AP Photo/ Stefan Rousseau, pool) |
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| EMERGENCY teams are facing the traumatic task of counting and indentifying the dead in the makeshift base of a King’s Cross hotel tonight (Thursday) following the bomb blasts which ripped through three underground stations (Liverpool Street Station, Edgeware Road Tube Station and King's Cross Station) and obliterated a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. While charred bodies are taken to the Holiday Inn in Euston Road, scarred survivors who limped free from the carnage are being treated in hospitals across the capital. They are the victims of terrorist attacks on the underground which brought the capital to a chilling standstill during what is normally the bustling morning rush hour. CNJ |
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| Viewing by the Bereaved 3.69 It is vital to distinguish between viewing a victim for the purposes of legal identification and viewing by the bereaved family once the legal process has been carried out. 3.70 As previously indicated in this guidance, identifying victims of major emergencies using visual means is highly unreliable. It must be kept in mind that if one victim is wrongly identified, there is the potential that at least two will have been wrongly identified. Even where victims have not suffered trauma, great caution must be exercised in using visual identification. 3.71 Mistakes have been made in the past due to any number of reasons including denial by the bereaved. One mistake can throw doubt on the whole process and greatly increase the trauma experienced by families. 3.72 In addition to the risk of misidentification, the viewing process is likely to be highly stressful for the next of kin – it is not a process they should have to endure more than once due to being presented with the wrong body. It is far better to identify the victim using scientific means and then deal with the issue of viewing for grieving as a separate process. Families should, however, normally be involved in providing supporting evidence for the purposes of identification. 3.73 In his report, at recommendation 25, Lord Justice Clarke states – ‘Consideration should I think be given to placing the ‘right’ to view the body on a statutory basis’. It is vital to understand that this recommendation does not refer to the viewing for identifying purposes but as a crucial element in the grieving process. Fatalities pdf |
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| Victim Recovery 3.11 The recovery of the dead and human remains is also an evidence recovery process. It is normally appropriate for trained police officers to carry out this task. A number of police forces throughout the United Kingdom have such trained teams. However, in some incidents it may be necessary to seek wider support, for example from the military and this should be considered and agreed as part of the planning process. 3.12 Recovery will be conducted under the overall supervision of the scene evidence recovery manager and carried out as part of a carefully documented process. This process will normally use nationally recognised victim labels and recovery booklets each bearing a unique reference number. In addition to contemporaneous documentation the process may be supported by video and still photography. There is no specific definition of what constitues a body (under section 8 of the Coroners Act 1988), esentially the test will be whether the quantity of remains found is sufficient enough to prove death. 3.13 Welfare and the health and safety of staff conducting this work is paramount. Staff must wear full protective clothing including boots, gloves and other items deemed necessary by risk assessment. There must be strict procedures to ensure decontamination, removal and disposal of outer clothing (normally disposable suits) upon leaving the designated site. 3.14 It is important to emphasise that for many reasons, such as the safety of staff and integrity of evidence, the process of victim recovery cannot be rushed. The whole process must be subject to risk assessment throughout with careful monitoring of staff welfare. Often disaster sites are by their very nature extremely hazardous areas. It is not uncommon to find hazardous chemicals, fluids and effluent. Overturned, precariously balanced vehicles or containers and unstable structures may add to the already hazardous process of recovering victims and human remains. Body Holding 3.15 To ensure appropriate quality control measures it will be necessary to establish a disaster victim or body holding area close to the scene. Experience has shown that it is best located near to the cordon control point ideally straddling the inner cordon line. Inflatable structures have been used with success in the past. 3.16 A disaster victim holding area must not be confused with a temporary mortuary. The body holding area is a secure, private location where victims and human remains that have been recovered from the site can be temporarily held prior to transfer to a mortuary – temporary or otherwise. The disaster victim holding area acts as a quality control point for victim labels and other accompanying documentation. Identification of victims will not take place in the holding area. 3.17 The disaster victim holding area will be staffed by a police documentation officer with other appropriate support appointed by the scene evidence recovery manager. The staff in this area will maintain a written log of all victims and remains recovered from the site ensuring that these are placed in a suitable order for transfer to the mortuary. All movements will be carefully recorded to maintain an audit trail for the whole process. 3.18 Prolonged storage of victims is not appropriate at a disaster victim holding area and appropriate arrangements must be made to ensure minimal delay in transmission to the mortuary. It will be important to ensure that this facility is located with due sensitivity to privacy, for example whether it can be viewed from any media vantage points. |
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| Victim Recovery 3.11 The recovery of the dead and human remains is also an evidence recovery process. It is normally appropriate for trained police officers to carry out this task. A number of police forces throughout the United Kingdom have such trained teams. However, in some incidents it may be necessary to seek wider support, for example from the military and this should be considered and agreed as part of the planning process. 3.12 Recovery will be conducted under the overall supervision of the scene evidence recovery manager and carried out as part of a carefully documented process. This process will normally use nationally recognised victim labels and recovery booklets each bearing a unique reference number. In addition to contemporaneous documentation the process may be supported by video and still photography. There is no specific definition of what constitues a body (under section 8 of the Coroners Act 1988), esentially the test will be whether the quantity of remains found is sufficient enough to prove death. |
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| Jackson called for more lighting and more fire fighters arrived. "We had to get dead people out of the way so we could get to people trapped underneath. We were taking bodies out of the carriage, but eventually we just piled them to the side of the carriage." There were dismembered parts everywhere. It was impossible to tell which had come from which bodies. "The floor was really slippery, you didn't know what you were stepping on," says Collins, 29. The firefighters didn't know if a dirty bomb had gone off, or if another device would explode. They worked on in the heat and stench, soaked in sweat and parched. A triage was set up and paramedics tagged people - from 0 (dead) to 4 (minor injuries). |
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| It had just turned 10am when Roche began striding along the dark tunnel towards the stranded train. No one had a clue what had caused its sudden breakdown. Roche had begun to fear the worst, though, as he came across a bedraggled string of passengers, their blackened, bleeding faces almost invisible in the choking clouds of smoke. article |
| QUOTE (Bridget @ Jun 16 2007, 06:54 PM) | ||||||
So no photographs or video taken that could establish the impact of the explosion or where the victims were at the moment after the explosion - was this because it wasn't being treated as a crime scene but rather an accident?
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| "Following initial reports, we had one team concentrating on getting emergency resources to the sites and getting further reports, and we split another part of management to think about what we would be doing later, four hours and 24 hours later, because at that time of course, shortly after the bomb exploded on the bus we knew we were dealing with crime scenes." Tim O'Toole, Managing Director London Underground Quoted in Rail Manager Online: Monday 18 July 2005 |
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| 9.1 It took ten days for all those who were killed on 7 July to be formally identified by the police. The identification process was managed at the Resilience Mortuary, which was set up at the Honourable Artillery Company in the City of Westminster. This venue – a private company - was identified only after the originally intended location had been found to be unsuitable because it was a military base which might have been needed in the event of a need for a military contribution to the response. We understand that the Honourable Artillery Company had not been approached prior to 7 July to develop contingency plans and agree costs. The cost of using the venue was £3 million by January 2006. 9.2 We understand that a review is now taking place to identify a number of alternative sites across London for any Resilience Mortuary that may need to be established. Once these potential sites have been identified, preparatory discussions will take place between local authorities, the London Resilience Team, and the venues, so that plans can be put in place in advance rather than having to draw up a contract and agree costs at short notice. 9.3 This was the first time a Resilience Mortuary had been set up in the UK. The Mass Fatalities Plan had only been completed a few weeks before 7 July. Given these facts, the establishment of the Mortuary by 10 pm on 8 July was a remarkable achievement. The correct identification of the deceased was a highly complex and sensitive task, and this was completed within 7 days. |
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| July 11, 2005 First victims named as grim task of indentification goes on By Simon Freeman, Times Online, and Dominic Kennedy of The Times Susan Levy, 53, was named as a victim of the London bomb attack today - the first person to be formally identified by police. Up to 70 people may have been killed by the four bombs. An inquest into the death of Mrs Levy, of Newgate Street Village, Cuffley, Hertfordshire, opened and adjourned at St Pancras Coroner’s Court in London at 10am. A mother of two grown up sons, she was travelling on the Piccadilly Line on Thursday morning. Today her husband, Harry, a London taxi driver, issued a statement saying that he and his sons, James and Daniel, were distraught and devastated at their loss. Later police identified Gladys Wundowa, 51, a university cleaner, as one of the 13 dead aboard the number 30 bus that exploded in Tavistock Square. Detectives were continuing to identify individuals from the bodies, limbs, torsos and organs brought from the bomb sites, a task compared yesterday to assembling a giant jigsaw. It could be several weeks before all of the victims are known. The job will be complicated because the dead may include at least one of the bombers, who was likely to be carrying false ID and to have relatives who are reluctant to come forward. Already 100,000 calls have been made to the casualty bureau for the London bombings from people saying that they are concerned about missing friends and relatives. An Identification Commission, chaired by Paul Knapman, the Coroner for Westminster, will meet daily to identify the dead. His team includes Rob Chapman, the supervising pathologist, Detective Superintendent Jim Dickie, the Metropolitan Police senior investigation manager, and a leading orthodontist. The large number of bodies, their condition, the fact that all were retrieved from crime scenes and the possibility that they contain scraps of evidence will add to delays. Police said that they were sharing information with families as clues emerged. The remains have all been taken to a military site, the Honourable Artillery Company at City Road, London, close to King’s Cross. Large white tents have been erected in the grounds and police are standing guard. Post-mortem examinations began on Saturday. When many bodies are in a mortuary at the same time, the authorities are aware of the danger of wrong identification through human error by overworked officials. This happened after the Lockerbie bombing when a body was wrongly sent to the United States. A similar blunder was prevented after the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster when a sharp-eyed pathologist spotted a wrong identity tag. Identification by sight is rarely accepted by disaster investigators. Partly this is because it is so unreliable. But an expert, who declined to be named, said: "There are some religions that like to bury their dead before sundown. Experience in the Air India crash off Ireland suggests that people are so desperate to fulfil that religious belief they are rather haphazard in saying ‘That’s him or her’." Those identifying victims of a mass killing must first study the bodies at the crime scene. They are photographed and checked to see if there are clues near by, such as weapons. The way in which a body has been damaged, the path taken by flying limbs or the site of burns or scorch marks, can all give clues to the location of a bomb. The remains are gathered in individual plastic bags and taken to a mortuary, where post-mortem examinations take place. The bodies can contain clues in the form of shrapnel. After the bombing of the Deal barracks, which killed ten bandsmen in 1989, one of the corpses was discovered to have part of the timer used to detonate the device embedded in it. Police collect details of all possible victims, which are then compared with the remains. The Coroner makes a list of a dozen or so indicators of identity. These might include belongings, tattoos, hysterectomies, artificial limbs or ethnicity. Fingerprints and dental records are the traditional forms of identity, but DNA sampling has become the preferred method. In an explosion, investigators want to piece back together all the body parts and this can be done using DNA. Samples can be retrieved from missing people’s clothing, hairbrushes and toothbrushes. If none is available, DNA can be taken from parents or relatives to find similarities in the genetic code. Identity documents cannot be trusted because some people carry bogus papers. One expert spoke last night of a case where a dead person turned out to have three identities "and a girl in every port". The possible presence of bombers among the dead will complicate identification because a terrorist is likely to have false documents, or none. One of the 31 victims of the King’s Cross fire of 1987 was identified by scientific methods only last year. |
