The President of the Cuban Legal Medicine Society, Dr. Jorge Gonzalez Perez.

Havana, August 17 (RHC)—The President of the Cuban Legal Medicine Society, Dr. Jorge Gonzalez Perez, announced that the search and identification of the remains of the 14 persons declared missing during the fire at the oil depot in the Western province of Matanzas, has been concluded.

In a nationally televised press conference, Gonzalez said that no absolute identification of the remains could be established.

Due to the sensitivity of the matter, previous to the encounter with the press, the expert said he met separately with the relatives of each of the 14 missing persons so that they would be informed in advance of their findings. Gonzalez conveyed to them the deep condolence of the team of scientists that was involved in the search.

According to the forensic expert remarks, the search, concentrated around oil storage tanks 51 and 52, resulted in the finding of 754 bone fractions that were divided into 14 groups of remains.

The expert explained that the high temperature during the blaze, ranging at times between 1000 and 2000 degrees Celsius, destroyed the three elements needed for the absolute identification of the missing: fingerprints, dentures, and DNA, which is why there was no way to match an ID or name to any of the groups of remains found.