The bodies of Pakistanis killed in a fire at a garment factory last September, remain unidentified at a morgue in Karachi in this Oct. 19 photo — AP KARACHI — At the only morgue in Pakistan's largest city lie the blackened remains of 32 people killed in one of the worst industrial accidents in the country's history, wrapped in white plastic body bags waiting for DNA tests to determine who they are. That means an excruciating wait — so far more than a month — for families whose relatives are believed to have been killed but have not been accounted for. One of those in the morgue may be the daughter-in-law of Aisha Bano. Bano's son and his wife both were working as stitching machine operators in the warehouse-factory producing jeans and other clothes when it was ravaged by a Sept. 11 blaze. The son is known to have died. His wife is still missing. Bano says her grandchildren have continuous nightmares about their missing mother, dreaming that she's trying to get home. “Almost every midnight one of them wakes me up to tell me somebody is outside the house calling their names and pleading to open the door," said Bano, tears rolling down her cheeks. The fire horrified Karachi, and residents are still struggling to deal with the extent of the tragedy. According to official figures, 259 workers died in the fire, but there are indications the toll may be even higher. The inferno laid bare the dangerous conditions at some Pakistani factories, as well as the limitations of facilities in this port city of more than 18 million people. It took rescue workers more than 36 hours to put out the blaze. Investigators haven't determined what caused the fire but suggested that it might have been a short circuit that ignited material and wood. Most of the dead have been identified and handed over to their families, many in the first couple of days because the bodies were intact. Those remaining are at the Edhi Morgue, identifiable only by DNA. There's no place in Karachi to do the DNA tests, so samples have been sent to a laboratory in Islamabad, said officials. Despite reassurances from the government that the dead would be quickly identified, the turnover has been slow. The lab provided results on nine bodies so far, leaving 32 still at the morgue, said Inspector Jahanzeb Khan with the Karachi police. “We sent a lot of reminders to the laboratory to expedite the DNA match process," he said. Bano's family received the body of her son, Muhammad Javed, from the hospital the day after the fire. But his wife Samina's has still not been identified. Bano and her other sons initially thought Samina might still be alive and visited all the city's hospitals. When realization struck that she was likely dead, they began visiting the morgue. “We checked all the unidentified bodies so many times. We visited the Edhi Morgue 17 days in a row," she said, sitting next to her three grandchildren and younger son. The doctors took a DNA sample from one of the relatives and told them it would take up to three days to confirm Samina's body, Bano said. When they contacted the police, they were told the samples were sent to Islamabad and were told to wait. The lack of identification has also made it difficult for families to receive compensation promised by the government. Muhammad Siddiq lost his son Muhammad Shehbaz in the factory. His son came home for lunch that day with a fever but he brushed aside his mother's urging to stay home and returned to work. Provincial government officials told the family they have to prove they have lost a family member before they can receive compensation. So they need confirmation of his body. Siddiq said the compensation pales in comparison to the family's need to bury their son. “All I need is my son's body so his soul can rest," he said. “His mother has almost lost her senses."— AP
