Failure of the public prosecutor's office Fire victims were apparently not autopsied
Immediately after the fire disaster in Crans-Montana, the Valais public prosecutor's office should have had autopsies carried out on the dead, say forensic experts. A media report now states that no autopsies of the victims are known.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Immediately after the fire disaster in Crans-Montana VS, the Valais public prosecutor's office apparently did not have all or any of the fire victims forensically examined.
- Rome's ambassador in Bern also confirmed that none of the six Italian victims had undergone autopsies in Switzerland.
- This was done later in Italy.
- According to the report, experience shows that in most cases, relatives want to know exactly how and from what the victims died.
According to the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" (NZZ), the Valais public prosecutor's office did not have all or any of the fire victims forensically examined immediately after the fire disaster in Crans-Montana VS.
Blick" also reported on the case of a young man from Vaud. He is the first victim of whom an autopsy is known. "The way it happened was extremely brutal," his mother told Blick. She had actually wanted to bury her son on January 14, the NZZ also wrote.
The body was released by the public prosecutor's office without an autopsy. Lawyers had previously asked for an autopsy. On January 13, when the funeral date had already been set, the public prosecutor's office had agreed to one. According to the NZZ, the teenager is now to be buried today, Friday.
Autopsy not mandatory after major fire, but customary
Rome's ambassador in Bern also confirmed to the NZZ that none of the six Italian victims had undergone an autopsy in Switzerland. The public prosecutor's office in Rome then ordered autopsies of the six Italian victims itself. One teenager had to be exhumed for this purpose.
The Valais public prosecutor's office did not respond to several inquiries from the NZZ.
An autopsy after a major fire with several fatalities is "not mandatory" from a legal point of view, the NZZ continued. However, it is so common that experts have expressed "great astonishment" to the newspaper if it did not actually take place.
Experience shows that in most cases, relatives want to know exactly how and from what the victims died, it continued. Investigations inside the body are necessary for this. In addition, it is a basic principle to autopsy foreign victims of unusual deaths before they are repatriated. Otherwise, the investigation would have to rely on forensic examinations from abroad, the report said.
