DNA analysis was used to identify 2,383 disaster victims in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, a survey by the National Police Agency said Thursday.
After finding it difficult to identify victims, most of whom died in the March 11 tsunami and whose bodies were not recovered until much later, police started collecting DNA samples from more than 7,000 family members of the missing victims and putting the data into a database.
According to the NPA, the number of victims found in the three prefectures, which bore the full brunt of the quake and tsunami, totaled 15,773 as of Dec. 11, with 15,104 successfully identified.
(Japan Times)
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