REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGETAN -- Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Team of Magetan Police faced difficulty in identifying a climber who died by forest fires on the slopes of Mount Lawu, Cemoro Sewu hiking trail, Magetan, East Java.

A member of DVI team, Aris Eko, said until midnight, DVI team had not managed to find out the identity of the victim.

"There is still one climber dead in Mount Lawu that was unidentified. It was because of the lack of supporting data," said Aris Eko, in Magetan, Monday (19/10)

According to him, the DVI team was constrained by lack of ante mortem and post mortem data of the victim. Besides that, ante mortem and post mortem data of the victim were also not entirely successfully combined.

Another obstacle was the condition of the body of victim that was damaged by fire, so that the physical features were difficult to be recognized.

Aris Eko explained, to reveal identity of the remaining climber, DVI team has taken a DNA sample of the victim. The DNA sample then was sent to Police Forensic Laboratory of East Java for further identification.

On Sunday (18/10), the rescue team received a report that there were nine climbers became victims of forest fires on the slopes of Mount Lawu, exactly in between posts 3 and 4, Cemoro Sewu hiking trail.

Seven climbers died and two others were critical. The officers also had identified six of seven victims.

The sixth victim who was identified, were Sumarwan from Beran, Ngawi; Nana Setya Utama (16) from Beran, Ngawi (Sumarwan's child); Rita Septi Hurika (21) from Paron, Ngawi (Sumarwan's nephew); Awang Ferry Ferdika from Karangasri, Ngawi; Joko Prayitno (31) from Kebun Jeruk, Jakarta; and Kartini (28) from Jakarta.

The victims who were treated in hospital were Eko Nurhadi (45) from Karangjati, Ngawi, and Novi Dwi (14) from Beran, Ngawi.

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