White Island eruption: Painstaking identification process before bodies can be moved

Warning: Some people may be distressed by details in this article.

The process of identifying the victims of the fatal White Island volcanic eruption will be painstaking, arduous and unpleasant for the team of police tasked with the job.

And they won't be rushed because they know just how important it is to get that process right.

Today the Herald spoke to a former officer with high level victim identification training to give insight into the process.

At least eight bodies are on White Island after Monday's eruption.

Due to safety concerns, no one has set foot on the island since the initial rescue of survivors, leaving the families of those thought to have been killed frustrated, furious and desperate.

But even when they can access the site police will be in no hurry to move anyone, regardless of public or other pressure.

"It could take days, or longer," he said.

"Think of a homicide - someone dies and their body might remain at the scene for a long time while we do all the precise work around them.

"In that case we are looking for evidence that's going to identify an offender - in this case we are doing all the work to ensure the body is properly identified.

"It has to be very precise."

Earlier today Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall explained the basic process that would be followed to identify the White Island victims.

Six people are now confirmed dead - five whose bodies have been recovered and are undergoing post mortem examinations to establish cause of death and then formal identification in Auckland.

The sixth died in hospital and the process was not likely needed given they would have been identified by hospital staff, treated and the cause of death would be clear and documented.

For victims whose lives ended on the island, a team of police, pathologists, scientists and forensic odontologists will work together to match bodies to identities.

That process, said Coroner Marshall, was in line with international Interpol standards - stringent and thorough.

It would be done in stages.

First, the team would collect ante mortem data - information from their families or friends about what they were doing, wearing and carrying before they died.

That includes any jewellery they wore, tattoos or scars on their bodies and details of wallets, bags and suchlike.

The scene of death examination would follow - what was around them where they were found.

Then, when their bodies were recovered, a pathologist would collect post mortem information.

Once each stage was complete the information would be presented to a coroner who will decide if it is sufficient to match the identity of the person involved to the body found.

"We will be working as hard as we can to return any deceased to their whanau," said Coroner Marshall.

The former policeman said the process kicked in whenever there was a situation where there was more than one body at a scene - formally referred to as a mass fatality incident.

"It could relate to any sort of disaster," he said.

In training police often ran through a staged plane crash to learn the finer points of victim identification on a mass level.

"In a plane crash situation you're looking at people who might be dismembered and all over the place.

"It's about putting it all together and coming up with an identity for that person.

"In this case, it's going to be about identifying bodies that are badly burned - and I imagine they will be in different places."

The former officer said he was certain authorities knew exactly who was on the island at the time of the explosion and who was likely dead.

But it was important to make sure they assumed nothing and confirmed each person to 100 per cent.

"They are going to have a pretty clear indication," he said.

"But they have to be sure.

"In some cases you get body parts blown off and they have to be treated as a unique item.

"You don't want to be putting the wrong arm with the wrong body, so you work around identifying the arm, identifying the body and they later on you can confirm they are from the same person.

"They have to be very precise … it's like doing a full scene examination for every person about where they were and what was around them - like wallets."

He said police could use a grid system to finely comb the area around each body and collect any relevant evidence to help the with the identification process.

"It's about getting everything you need - it's not about running in, picking up a body and running out," he said.

"Only when they are satisfied that everything has been done, that they have everything they need, will the bodies be removed.

"They might remove them one by one, or all together."

The former officer, who has led a number of high-profile investigations where one or more people have been killed, said an explosion of any kind made the identification process harder than usual.

"Things can end up anywhere," he said.

"You might get a wallet blown out of a one person's pocket and land on the chest of another person 10 or more metres away.

"The scene can become very confusing.

"You can't just assume that wallet belongs there - you have to be pretty precise."

Police would also seek samples from the victims to use in the identification process.

That usually came in the form of a toothbrush, hairbrush or a sample from a relative.

Dental records were also used, which is where the forensic odontologist came on board.

"It's definitely painstaking," he said.

"And it's the only way to do it, to really make sure."

It is understood some of the victim identification team worked in Christchurch after the March 15 mosque attacks.

There, they spent days working around the clock to identify the victims shot by a gunman who opened fire indiscriminately at two city mosques during Friday prayer.

They may have also worked on the Christchurch quake and overseas events such as the Thailand tsunami.

"Events around the world like this, they are often called to as well," said the former cop.

"It's not nice at all, you're going to be finding bodies that are in a really unpleasant condition.

"It's horrendous really, it's difficult work."

He said it would be particularly tough given the close proximity to the Christchurch massacre.

It was rare to have two such big mass fatality incidents so close.

"The sheer number of bodies makes it rough. It's not at all pleasant," said the former investigator.

"Police do have some pretty unenviable tasks to do."