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Manila: The Philippine government has formed three task forces that will provide an overall solution to the problems that erupted after the sinking of a passenger ferry off Sibuyan Island in central Philippines last June 21, a senior official said.
Task force Hazmat, short for hazardous materials, will lead the handling of toxic materials to be retrieved from MV Princess of the Star, said Elena Bautista, transportation and communications undersecretary.
Teleconference
"We are coordinating with the World Health Organisation on the proper handling of the water samples where the tragedy happened. We held a teleconference with experts from New Zealand, Britain, Malaysia and Switzerland to handle this problem. The United Nations' environment unit has also extended assistance for the creation of this task force," Bautista said.
A task force in charge of disaster victim identification is composed of local and international groups that are giving DNA tests to the bodies that were recovered from the site of the sea tragedy, said Bautista.
A facility in Saravejo, Bosnia Herzegovina, offered to test bone samples from recovered bodies. Canadian experts have committed to help identify bodies through their dentures, said Bautista.
Earlier, the International Criminal Police Organisation donated 3,000 DNA testing kits for the identification of bodies.
"The decomposing bodies were kept in a refrigerated facility. The health department has started taking blood samples from people claiming to have relatives who sank with the ship," Bautista said.
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