An analysis of the Medicolegal deads performed in Diyarbakir, in 1996-1998

We have aimed in this study to describe the epidemiology of mortalities in Diyarbakir, Turkey over a 4 years period.Data obtained from the Diyarbakir City forensic Section, including autopsy reports. We considered ages, gender, cause and type of death, season, and death time. There were 983 (68.2%) males and 458 (31.8%) females. The majority were in the groups aged 0-10 years (28%). The most frequently cause of death was traffic accidents (39.1%), followed by fall from height (17.1%). There were a total of 1097 (76%) victims of accidental, 123 (9%) suicides and 221 (15%) homicides. There was an increase in the July month (12.9%). It was detected that the rate of autopsy very low (20%) and in 36.9% of victims autopsy was performed systematically. In conclusion, preventive measures of traffic accidents and falling from height may lead to reduce mortality in our region, given that more than half of deaths were related to these accidents.