Case Study
Topic
Coroners’ Inquests
Incident / Exercise
Incident: Indian Ocean Tsunami, 26 December 2004
Background and Context
On the morning of Boxing Day, an earthquake measuring 9.3 on the Richter
scale occurred off the coast of north-west Sumatra in Indonesia. The
earthquake triggered a tsunami (a large sea wave) that struck the coasts of
thirteen countries, causing great devastation and loss of life. Countries
all around the Indian Ocean rim were affected, from Thailand to Somalia and
from Indonesia to the coast of India.
The waves killed some 300,000 people, and left millions more without food,
homes and livelihoods. In Thailand and Sri Lanka in particular, thousands
of foreign nationals were affected, expanding the impact of the tragedy to
many other countries far away from the disaster stricken regions. The
implications for those affected extend far beyond the immediate period of
aftermath, to the following months and years.
The disaster struck during a peak holiday season. It is thought that
approximately 10,000 British nationals were in the affected region when the
tsunami struck. As at the end of September 2006, there were 150 confirmed
British dead and one highly likely to have died, giving a total of 151.
Three of these were in the Maldives, 17 in Sri Lanka and 131, including the
one unconfirmed and ten dual nationals, in Thailand. The number injured is
not known.
How the Topic was Handled
It was agreed that, as the UK victims’ bodies would be brought into the UK
via Heathrow, the West London coroner (Coroner for Hammersmith and Fulham)
should assume jurisdiction as she would be the coroner who would deal with
the bodies on their return and hold inquests. Given that body
identification would be difficult, she went on a fact-finding visit to the
Far East. When the bodies returned to Heathrow, they were taken to the West
London mortuary at Fulham for examination. Inquests were held at Olympia in
December 2005.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham were reimbursed for the
additional costs it faced as a result of the work undertaken by the
Coroner's Service in response to the Asian Tsunami.
Lessons Identified
None provided
Contacts for Further Information
Ministry of Justice
Selborne House
54 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QW.
Tel: 020 7210 8500
