A second team of police Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) specialists are on their way to assist Victoria Police following the bushfires tragedy.
The team of three (two from Wellington District, one from Canterbury) will relieve the six staff from the National DVI team who have been in Victoria since 11th February.
The latest team includes a fingerprint specialist and is led by Wellington District Search and Rescue coordinator Sergeant Joanne Holden. They departed today (Monday 2nd March)and are scheduled to remain in Victoria until March 25.
The six DVI team members already in Victoria will return to New Zealand later this week along with the four Police victim recovery dogs and their handlers.
The DVI team has been working in the worst hit areas around Kinglake and Marysville as well as the reconciliation centre in Melbourne run by Victoria Coronial Services.
Victoria Police has not requested any further dog teams from New Zealand but it is anticipated that DVI specialists will be required for another 9 weeks.
Two more forensic dentists also went to Victoria at the weekend where they will remain until March 15th.
The Police National Disaster Victim Identification team was established following the 2002 Bali bombings and has close links with its counterparts in Australia.
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