DISASTER victim identification teams will begin talking to grieving relatives of victims of Victoria's Black Saturday bushfires this weekend, to brace them for the dreadful reality that the remains of some victims will never be identified.
Forensic police have also begun visiting relatives of victims, asking for DNA samples.
At a temporary morgue at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne, the nation's best such institute, a team of 30 specialists, from all states and territories and New Zealand, are working on the identification of more than 100 remains of victims.
Many have worked in previous disasters, including the 2002 Bali bombing and the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. They include not only pathologists, but also anthropologists working on skull and bone fragments, and odontologists working on forensic dental identification.
In the town of Marysville, where about 100 people are believed to have died, refrigerated vans acting as a temporary mortuary are part of a disaster plan established after the 2005 London bombings. Last night the overall death toll remained at 181, although it was expected to exceed 200.
Stephen Cordner, the director of the VIFM, who is leading the forensic team, said this week it might be impossible to identify some of the victims, but he and Victorian Coroner Jennifer Coate refused to elaborate.
As forensic specialists continue to discover remains in what has become an increasingly complex investigation, Professor Cordner is known to have become concerned that relatives of victims might be harbouring unrealistic expectations.
He had arranged to discuss the issue with The Weekend Australian yesterday, as part of a process of bracing relatives for what lies ahead, but was gagged minutes before the interview, apparently at the direction of officials within the Attorney-General's Department, which includes the Coroner's Office.
But one of Australia's foremost experts in pathology, Roger Byard, of the University of Adelaide, said last night that, although the forensic team assembled in Victoria was world-class, some remains would never be identified or returned to relatives.
"What happens in bushfires is that you get a whole array of damage to bodies," Professor Byard said. "Some people can just asphyxiate because of lack of oxygen; others can be burnt, but the body is quite recognisable. With other people it can be just like a cremation, where the body is turned to ash.
"Some of the bodies are just not going to be identified, with all the best science in the world and one of the best teams of the world. That's just one of the additional heartbreaking aspects of a disaster like this.
"There are going to be some people who probably will not get bodies back."
Scientists say the tips of flames in a firestorm burn at 300C, while the temperature at the base of an inferno can reach 1000C.