"If the relative saw a family member, they took the poster and register with the funeral home and we would contact forensic services to take a blood test for DNA identification," says Liu, head of the Dujiangyan Funeral Home.
The DNA lab received 477 samples from earthquake victims and 313 samples from relatives. So far, 142 have been confirmed, Mao says. All of the collected DNA data of the earthquake victims are stored in the DNA database of China's Ministry of Public Security. Identification work is still going on as family members keep coming for DNA matching, Mao says.
The DNA data of four victims caught Mao's eye. They found from the data the four were related: a grandmother and grandson and two siblings. That was Xue Yuchao's family.
To guard against mistakes, the government ordered that family members must claim the ashes with DNA reports from the police.
It was not until after the Chinese New Year in February this year that Xue finally got the ashes of his family after he submitted the DNA report, his identification and proof of his relation to the dead.
There are still some 60 ashes of unidentified earthquake victims resting in Dujiangyan Funeral Home.
According to the city's cremation regulation, crematorium can dispose ashes of anonymous bodies if they are not claimed with 30 days.
"But right now we are keeping all the unclaimed ashes because we are still waiting for policies from the civil affairs bureau about how to handle the ashes of the victims," Liu Liangzhi, the head of the funeral home says.
The DNA identification work is still going on as family members come for DNA testing, Mao Jiong says. "All the data we collected is in the database of the Ministry of Public Security, and relatives can come at any time to test for DNA matching."
Meanwhile, Xue has organized three tombs. Because his brother died holding Xue's son, he put them together in one tomb. He borrowed the amount of over 6,000 yuan to buy the plots, in a cemetery close to Dujiangyan city.
"I had to find a place for them to rest," Xue says. "Now I can visit them often when I miss them."
Though Xue has not received the 5,000 yuan per death which the government had promised as compensation, he says he no longer cares.
"I lost my son and my relatives.. life is meaningless."
His only hope now that his second son, now 15, would be selected for schooling in Shanghai, the city designated by the central government to help Dujiangyan's reconstruction that takes a number of students to study each semester.
He admits that he's still angry about the shoddy building, but he doesn't want to complain or file a lawsuit.
"Life is unfair. I have no connections. I'm just too weak and too old to fight."
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)
