Jeddah Police have taken DNA samples from 22 persons killed in floods in east Jeddah three weeks ago as they seek to identify recently-recovered bodies from stricken sites. The bodies, which are being held at the Forensic Morgue in Al-Mehjir, were examined by specialists from the Department of Criminal Evidence. “Some of the bodies recovered in the last few days are so badly decomposed that DNA sampling is the only way to identify them,” said Saleh Zuwaid Al-Ghamdi, head of Criminal Evidence at Jeddah Police. Procedures begin by asking relatives of victims to identify photographs, and if that is not possible then bodies are fingerprinted. “If victims are on our database it will give us their names and addresses as well as the addresses of relatives,” Al-Ghamdi said. Bodies damaged beyond recognition are DNA-tested and compared with the DNA of relatives for a match, with results arriving in approximately 72 hours.
