Relatives are gradually collecting the bodies of beer factory fire victims to return them to their hometowns. The forensic chief confirmed that the identities of 25 victims have been verified, while identification of 4 more bodies is underway, pending DNA results.
On 14 Jul, at the Police Hospital's Institute of Forensic Medicine, staff from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation set up a service point to assist with documentation and coordination to help relatives collect the bodies after all procedures were completed. Yesterday, seven families of victims from the beer factory fire at Lat Phrao collected the bodies to take back to their hometowns.
To collect a victim's body, only direct legal relatives—such as father, mother, child, or legally registered spouse—are authorized to do so. If direct relatives cannot come in person and assign someone else to act on their behalf, a power of attorney and complete verification documents from the authorized relative are required before signing consent forms to receive the body.
Today, officials began document verification at 8:30 a.m., then gradually handed over the bodies in the afternoon for transport back to their hometowns at no cost.
Regarding the progress of victim identification, a total of 29 bodies have been delivered to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, with two more bodies arriving yesterday.
Reporter inquiries with Pol. Maj. Gen. Wirun Supasinghsiripreecha, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police Hospital, revealed that identities have been confirmed for 25 victims—23 from the initial group and 2 delivered yesterday. The remaining 4 bodies are still awaiting official identity confirmation through DNA analysis.
So far, 17 families of victims have come forward to identify and match information. Overall, operations are proceeding smoothly without major obstacles. However, officials still require time to analyze and compare data as relatives continue to arrive progressively to complete forensic and legal procedures.