'We don't want to rush this,' coroner says of painstaking work to ID victims of Toronto van attack

Investigators will proceed with caution in the coming days as they work to identify the victims of a van attack on a north Toronto street, according to Ontario's chief coroner.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. DirkHuyersaid the case posed several challenges for investigators: the attack happened "in a busy very pedestrian area," there were multiple injuries and deaths, and it stretched "over significant distance."

Ten people were killed and 14 were injured after a driver sped down a busy stretch ofYongeStreet Monday, striking pedestrians.

Alek Minassian has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. A Toronto detective sergeant said Tuesday that the victims of the attack were "predominantly female" and that he expects Minassian will be charged with a fourteenth count of attempted murder.

IDs will take time

In the aftermath of the attack, families and governments have begun to identify the names of the dead.

But amid a complex investigation drawing on the expertise of pathologists, forensic anthropologists, and others,Huyerdoesnot expect official confirmation of their identities for several days.

"We have not confirmed any of the identifications at this point,"Huyersaid on Tuesday.

But police have contacted the families of victims who were carrying identification, according to Huyer.

In these cases, Huyer said investigators have asked families for help in obtaining full confirmation of a victim's identity, such as dental X-rays, and possibly DNA or fingerprints.

"We have...notified families, and told them that we believe, tentatively, that their loved ones have passed," he said.

According to Huyer, extra staff were required on Monday night, but he said his office is adequately staffed for the ongoing investigation.

"We don't want to rush this, and it's not because we're limited in numbers," he said. "It's because we want to take the most appropriate time to ensure that we give the best answers possible."

The province of Saskatchewan recently apologized after the coroner's office mixed up the identities of two victims in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash one who had survived, and another who had died.

Death investigations are co-led by the heads of the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, according to a spokesperson.

McArthur probe not straining resources

Monday's attack cameas forensic investigators continue to examine murders allegedly committed by landscaper Bruce McArthur.

That investigation has grown since McArthur's arrest in January. Investigators have identified the remains of several men recovered from planters at a Toronto property where McArthur worked.

"They are in various stages of decomposition," Toronto Police Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga, the lead investigator in the McArthurprobe, said at a press conference earlier this month. "Doctors from Ontario Forensic Pathology Services have been doing some very difficult and time-consuming work in attempting to reconstruct these remains and identify them."

Despite two major ongoing investigations, a spokesperson said the two-pronged system is running smoothly.

"We're managing with our current resources," Cheryl Mahyr, issues manager for the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service said in a phone interview.