When accidents and disasters occur, it is often very hard to identify victims as their physical characteristics could be destroyed. In this case, DNA testing has a very important role in helping to determine the identity of victims.
DNA fingerprinting has been utilized in the United States after the September 11 attack for claiming missing or unknown identities resulting from this tragedy. The DNA identification project had been going on for three years and will continue until no further identifications can be made. There were 20,000 body parts recovered in total and more than 13,000 of which are still seeking identity. More importantly, the remaining hijackers of this incident were also arrested through this method.
The tsunami killed more than 500,000 people and left 1000 orphans in the country. DNA fingerprinting has significantly helped with the identification of missing people and parents of the orphans.