The Panamanian government reported Thursday that “it will take time” to identify the nearly 40 migrants who died in a bus accident last Wednesday and asked the victims’ countries for genetic material from the families for comparison.
A statement from the Panamanian State Attorney’s Office of Forensic Medicine and Forensics said they died in one of the worst bus accidents in the country’s history at least 40 people, but determining the exact number is difficult because of the fragmentation of bodies. So far, 37 deaths have been counted.
“This process will take time, (…) the condition of the bodies and the lack of ante mortem data complicate expert reports, particularly in terms of identification,” the entity said.
He explained that information from the migrants’ countries of origin, such as fingerprints and dental records, as well as DNA samples from relatives, would be needed “for genetic comparisons”.
“We cannot give an exact death toll as this is a very complex situation, with some bodies dismembered,” added Chiriquí’s chief prosecutor, Melissa Navarro.
In statements to AFP agency, he said that so far prosecutors have recovered the remains of 37 people.
The bodies were stored in a refrigerated truck because the morgue’s capacity was collapsing.
This is considered one of the worst bus accidents in Panama.
It happened early Wednesday morning when the bus carrying migrants from the Darién jungle to the border with Costa Rica went off the road on a curve near Gualaca in Chiriquí province, some 400 km west of Panama City and down the gorge fell.
The driver from Panama was also killed in the accident and 20 other people were injured.
The bus was part of the fleet organized by the government to try to channel the migratory flow. 66 foreigners from Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela and Haiti traveled there; and two drivers, one of whom died.
The Panamanian government has not specified the nationality of the deceased or wounded; but Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez reported on Twitter that “Cuban citizens” were among the dead.