Thames Safety Inquiry

The Marchioness tragedy occured on August 20th, 1989, when the dredger Bowbelle collided with the Marchioness on the River Thames resulting in the loss of 51 lives. This is an investigation into the manner in which some of the bodies were treated as part of the identification process.

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The Marchioness trqagedy occured on August 20th, 1989, when the dredger Bowbelle collided with the Marchioness on the River Thames resulting in the loss of 51 lives. The manner in which some of the bodies were treated as part of the identification process had given rise to concern owing to the removal of hands in 25 cases. This investigation makes recommendations for the future and highlights lessons to be learned. It also considers and reports on procedures followed to establish the identity of victims of the collision and reviews the procedures currently followed when establishing the identity of victims of similar accidents.