Venezuela's forensic service Senamecf runs 24‑hour operation to identify earthquake victims

The National Service of Forensic Medicine (Senamecf) has launched a continuous 24‑hour operation at the Bello Monte morgue and its storage silos to provide ongoing assistance to families of victims of the recent double earthquake. In an interview with Venezolana de Televisión, deputy director Dr. Sinuhe Villalobos explained that standard procedures are followed for bodies identified by relatives, including autopsy, death certificate issuance and individual burial niches.

For unidentified or unrecognizable remains, Senamecf activates a multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, odontologists and geneticists who apply international standards to determine sex, age range, injuries and cause of death. Each set of remains is photographed, assigned a unique numeric code, and stored in an individual niche. The agency denied the use of mass graves, emphasizing that each victim receives a separate burial slot and, when needed, additional coding from the anthropology and genetics units to ensure accurate delivery to families.