TTVI (Thai Tsunami Victim Identification)
Definition
The international DVI operation established in January 2005 under Royal Thai Police leadership with INTERPOL coordination to identify the approximately 5,400 international victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami who died in Thailand. Produced 2,436 identifications before formal conclusion in 2008.
- Established
- January 2005
- Leadership
- Royal Thai Police, with INTERPOL coordination
- Victims addressed
- Approximately 5,400 international victims in Thailand
- Identifications produced
- 2,436
- Formal conclusion
- 2008
Common questions
Why did TTVI require international coordination rather than a purely domestic response?+
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed tourists and residents from dozens of nations in Thailand, so identification required matching remains against antemortem records, dental charts, and DNA samples held by many different countries, which INTERPOL's DVI framework was built to coordinate.
What identification methods were central to TTVI's work?+
The operation relied primarily on the INTERPOL DVI standard's primary identifiers, dental comparison, fingerprint comparison, and DNA analysis, applied according to the victim's condition and the antemortem records available from the country of origin.
Related terms
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