DNA Hunt in MH17 Victim Identification

Police in Indonesia are collecting DNA samples from relatives of those killed in the Malaysia Airlines tragedy

Jakarta Globe, Ari Susanto, Jul 20, 2014

Ida Mardiyati, right, sister of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 plane crash victim
 Yuli Hastini, gets her blood drawn at her parents’ house in Kebonan, Solo, Central
 Java, on July 19, 2014, by the Central Java Police for DNA samples. (Antara Photo/
Hafidz Novalsyah)

Solo. Police have begun taking DNA samples from family members of some of the 12 Indonesians believed to have been on board the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday.

Police are also questioning the relatives about any identifiable physical characteristics as they seek to provide details to the investigators trying to identify the remains scattered over a field in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, according to Adj. Comr. Aris Prasetyo, a spokesman for the National Police’s Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team.

Aris told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that police had already taken a DNA sample from relatives of Yuli Hastini, 44, an Indonesian woman who was on board Flight MH17 with her Dutch husband, Johnny Paulisen, and their two children, Arjuna Paulisen and Sri Paulisen.

The family were said to be on an annual trip to visit Yuli’s family in Solo, Central Java. It was the first time they had flown Malaysia Airlines, having previously taken Singapore Airlines, relatives said.

In neighboring Karanganyar district, police took DNA samples from the parents of Supartini, 39, who was employed as a domestic worker in The Hague with her two sisters.

Aris said the family had also submitted a copy of a picture that Supartini had taken of herself at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport and sent to one of her sisters before boarding the flight.

The three sisters had all planned to return to Indonesia for a month before going back to the Netherlands. Paryati and Murtini, though, flew out a day earlier, on Emirates and Singapore Airlines flights, respectively.

Aris said the DVI team would submit all the DNA samples and descriptions of the victims to the National Police headquarters in Jakarta for use in aiding investigators identify the bodies at the crash site.

The plane was carrying 298 passengers and crew when it was shot down over territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine’s east. The separatist, the Ukrainian military and the Russian military have all denied responsibility for the incident.

Yuli and Supartini were among 12 Indonesians listed on the passenger manifest. The others were identified as Hadiono Gunawan, Hendry, Clarice Yelena Huizen, Vickiline Kurniati Kardia, Gerda Leliana Laherda, Jane M. Adi Soetjipto, Wayan Sujana, Yodricunda Theistiasih, Ketut Wiartini and Ninik Yuriani.

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