Blast injuries found on the exhumed remains of Polish postwar partisans killed by the Polish security service in 1946

Explosion-related deaths: An overview on forensic evaluation and implications

“…Unfortunately, the presence of the forensic pathologist is not always requested from the very beginning of the rescue procedures: this may result in a confused and chaotic on-site examination, complicating further operations of identification. Explosion-related deaths are characterized by widespread injuries; the environment in which the explosion took place represents an important element that must be carefully considered by the forensic pathologist [16,20,46,47]. Firstly, the on-site examination is divided into either a closed or open system, as for the classification of mass disasters [8,15,46,47].…”

“…In an open system, such as squares, the countryside or out-of-town rural areas, blast waves can project bodies or parts of them across a large area (Fig. 2), and weather conditions, local predators and the natural decay of the dead bodies can destroy important elements and hinder forensic operations [16,20]. The whole area may be divided into smaller subareas which should be numbered in order to facilitate the recovery operations of the victims, or parts of them, including any personal items.…”

“…Finally, the analysis of the scene analysis should be performed by a specialized team with competent training in rescue procedures and death scene investigations: photographing and collecting the victim's clothes and personal items will be helpful for the following identification operations [14,16,38,41,42].…”

“…Many elements must be considered by forensic pathologists in the event of an explosion in order to perform a proper medicolegal death investigation. Among them, on-site investigation is essential due to the diversity of environments where an explosion-related death can occur [14][15][16]. Blasts are associated with severe damage.…”

“…Trachea and main bronchi might show lacerations or rupture while the lungs are often hyperinflated, hemorrhagic and marked by rib contusions. Barotrauma effects can also be detected in the gastrointestinal system: as for the lungs, there can be hemorrhagic injuries, large intestine avulsion or lacerations [10,11,[14][15][16][17][18].…”