DISASTERS, many would argue, are becoming more commonplace. Between the natural and man-made ones, there are enough worldwide to keep the media well-stocked. In Malaysia, too, the frequency is increasing. Not too long ago, we had the Sabah earthquake, then there were the floods that hit the east coast states, the landslides and even a tsunami back in 2004. Of course, the collapse of Highland Towers in 1993 was a disaster that shocked the country and the death toll at 48 was tragic. It was followed by the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide in 2008 which killed four people. Another major catastrophe was the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over war-torn eastern Ukraine a year ago, where more than 200 lives were lost. More recently, the death camps in Perlis, where mass graves were found. The common denominator in all these disasters are the remains of victims that require identification. According to experts, Malaysia is not equipped to mobilise a Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) set-up quickly.
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