Alps crash: Search for 'elements of bodies' a perilous task

Rescue workers painstakingly search the debris from the Germanwings jet at the crash site to recover the remains of the 150 people killed. Photo / AP

Colonel Patrick Touron looked grim-faced, as well he might. His teams of gendarmes had spent three days in a barren, inhospitable Alpine ravine, combing what was left of the Germanwings A320 for human remains.

It was, even by the standards of criminal research, a gruesome job.

The flecks of white on the ground that the first helicopter search-and-rescue teams had seen were not patches of melting snow, as first thought, but debris from the aircraft mingled with human remains.

Once investigators understood that the biggest piece of wreckage was barely the size of a family car, there was a collective realisation that the stretchers would not be necessary. "We do not have a single intact body," Touron, deputy director of the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute, told the Observer.

"If you see the wreckage, it's no surprise that we have not found [whole] bodies, but parts of bodies. We have, at this exact moment in time, about 1500 body parts."

There are many more to be collected. The aircraft smashed into the mountain at 700km/h, exploding instantly and scattering aircraft and human debris over at least two hectares of precipitous rock.

Since the day after Flight 4U 9525 crashed into the southern Alps, aerial pictures have shown gendarmes picking through what looked like small pieces of litter.

The French described the painstaking task as the "travail de fourmi", literally the work of an ant, suggesting patience and perseverance.

It was difficult to use ordinary words to describe their grim findings, words that would not cause further distress to already grief-stricken families.

So the gendarmes turned to technical terms and euphemisms. They had found "elements of bodies" and "biological matter". These were placed in bags and sealed. The bags were winched out by helicopter and delivered to those working in the "post-mortem chain", who extracted DNA and compared it with genetic material obtained from "personal objects", such as toothbrushes, supplied by the families.

It was purposefully clinical. "I don't think it's necessary or helpful to give details," Touron said.

For the 16 two-man (the searchers are all male) teams, the work is physically exhausting, perilous - several have been struck by falling rocks - and psychologically draining. "It's difficult because the terrain itself is challenging and dangerous, which makes it tiring and physically hard," Touron said.

"We have women just as technically competent as the men and we considered using them, but they just don't have the same physical strength.

"It's very hard to raise body parts weighing five, 10, 20 kilos, some of which have been buried up to 50cm deep. We discussed it and came to a collective decision. The important thing is for us to be efficient and work quickly to not lose time while the weather is good."

He added: "The teams are pushing themselves hard. We're working from early morning to late evening to get the job finished and allow the families to recover what they can."

- Observer