Exhumed body of Indian brought to Manila, DNA sent to Chennai

The body of an Indian recovered after a merchant ship sank off the coast of Japan in October has been exhumed and brought to Manila. The DNA sample was sent to Chennai, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"This is an update on my tweets dated 18th November," Sushma Swaraj said.

"All islands in the region are alerted by Philippine Coast Guard. The mortal remains of one person have been exhumed and brought to Manila. The DNA sample is being taken to Chennai," she said.

On November 18, External Affairs Minister said that after the MV Emerald Star with 26 Indians on board sank on October 13, 16 persons were rescued, while the remaining 10 could not be found.

Stating that there was extensive search by Japan and the Philippines which was joined by the Indian Navy, she said that Philippine Coast Guard reported that a decomposed body with a life jacket marking Emerald Star was found on October 28 on the island city of Banua and was buried there.

The External Affairs Minister said she has asked Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar to have the body exhumed and brought to Manila for identification by DNA.

Those missing after the ship capsised, included Captain Rajesh Ramachandran Nair, Second Officer Rahul Kumar, Third Officer Giridhar Kumar Subramaniam, Chief Engineer Shyam Singh Rajput, Fourth Engineer Suresh Kumar Subbiah, Junior Engineer Ashok Kumar Chauhan, Gurumurthy Perumalsamy, Silambarasan Malavaranan, Gowtham Murugan and Bevin Thomas.

Japan's 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in Naha, Okinawa, on October 13 said it had received an emergency call from the 33,205-tonne ship around 2 a.m.

The Japan Coast Guard said it had dispatched patrol boats and aircraft to rescue the missing crew, but the operations were hampered by a raging typhoon.

Following this, the External Affairs Ministry said that 11 crew members were rescued by the ship Densa Cobra, registered in Xiamen, China, and five more by Samarinda, registered in the Philippines.

--IANS

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