Second body recovered Thursday believed to be Somali infant, mother still missing

Mugadishu, Friday, August 10, 2007 Simba Radio

Divers searching for the remains of those missing after last week's I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis recovered at least two more bodies today - and authorities are testing to see if they've found even more.

Later Thursday evening, Omar Jamal, executive director Somali Justice Advocacy Center , said that the family of one of the missing - infant Hana Sahal - was told by authorities that the girl's remains had been found and identified. Authorities made no official mention of the identification.

Sahal had been traveling with her mother, 23-year-old Sadiya Sahal, a nursing student who was five months pregnant. Jamal said authorities offered no information to the family other than that the infant's body had been found

Baker said that due to the conditions of the later set of remains, additional testing would be required to be absolutely certain of their identity.

"I won't go into great detail, but as you can imagine with conditions being what they are and the time that has elapsed since the tragedy, you need to bring more and more science to bear on the process of human identification," Baker said.

Baker said additional methods might include the use of dental records, fingerprints, the identification of unique medical features on a body, and DNA testing. The final method was considered a last resort, due to the time required to complete such testing.