Court decision may allow some family members to get death certificates nearly two years after tragic storm
Just 25 human remains of 59 recovered have been identified, pathologist notes
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Her Majesty’s Coroner yesterday heard the final testimonies in the first part of an inquest into people presumed to have died during Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
Witnesses for 34 people reported to police as having gone missing during the storm have been testifying over the past month, recounting the last time they saw or spoke to their loved ones.
Relatives of 17 of the missing people have testified to date.
Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez advised that she will issue her formal decision regarding the deaths of those missing people next week Thursday, “declaring most of the persons that have been listed as missing persons as having been missing as a result of the storm”.
Weech-Gomez explained that once a certificate is issued, relatives will be able to go to the Registrar General’s Department to obtain a death certificate.
It is hoped that the process will help to bring some sort of closure to those families nearly two years after the storm.
The coroner did not specify when the inquest is expected to continue with additional testimonies from the relatives of other people reported missing, however, she explained that she did not want to have families who have already testified waiting any longer.
Under the current law, there is a seven-year wait period before anyone can be declared dead in absentia.
The attorney general has granted permission for the coroner’s inquest to move forward without a jury in an effort to expedite the matter.
During the inquest, Dr Kiko Bridgewater, an expert pathologist, outlined the response to the mass fatalities following the September 1, 2019 storm, and described the recovery of people found dead in the aftermath.
According to Bridgewater, 59 human remains were recovered between September 10, 2019, and March 9, 2020 — 50 adults, six children and three with unknown ages.
Of the remains recovered, only 25 have been identified to date.
Bridgewater advised that only five of the victims could be identified visually and their bodies have been released to their families.
Eight of the bodies were identified based on the presence of identification on the body; three were identified from markings on their body bags; and nine were identified through DNA.
The cause of death for 28 of those victims was listed as “likely drowning”, while the cause of death for the other 31 is still unknown.
The number of missing and dead people in the aftermath of the storm remains unknown.
