Forensic Experts in Action: DVI Exercise Focused on Disaster Victim Identification
From April 20 to 24, 2026, the international DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) exercise PLANE 2026 took place at the Lešť Military Training Area, focusing on the identification of disaster victims.
The event was professionally supervised by the Criminalistics and Forensic Expertise Institute of the Police Force. The Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Martin, was represented by MUDr. Veronika Rybárová, PhD., from the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Medical Expertises.
The exercise simulated a major emergency scenario — an aircraft crash within an urban environment involving multiple casualties — and included both theoretical and practical training focused on the organization, documentation, and identification of victims according to international DVI standards. In addition to participating in the professional activities, Dr. Rybárová also volunteered as a simulated victim during practical search operations conducted by mountain rescue canine teams.
Approximately 70 experts attended the event, including teams from Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Team compositions changed throughout the exercise, and participants faced highly demanding tasks under simulated air disaster conditions — from searching aircraft wreckage and debris in the field, locating and transporting bodies, and conducting initial examinations and on-site identification procedures, to detailed victim identification under mortuary conditions.
The exercise also included the collection of information about missing persons from fictional relatives, followed by the reconciliation process, during which ante-mortem and post-mortem data were compared. The results were subsequently presented before a special tribunal, which determined whether the identity of victims was confirmed, probable, excluded, or could not be established due to insufficient evidence.