DNA typing of Sri Lanka victim samples and related AM matching procedures

Steinlechner,M., Parson,W., Rabl,W., Grubwieser,P., Scheithauer,R.

In Sri Lanka more than 38.000 individuals of varied racial and ethnic background lost their lives when the island was affected by the South Asian tsunami in December 2004. Among the victims were 80 foreigners from 17 countries. Disaster victim identification (DVI) teams from many countries were involved in examining victims and taking DNA samples from victims for identification procedures. The principal role of our laboratory in this process was to provide bar- coded sampling kits, to perform DNA typing of human remains and ante mortem/kinship samples and to accomplish DNA matching services to support DNA based identifications.