Angau morgue full

ANGAU Memorial Hospital is asking relatives of the dead to claim the bodies from the morgue.
Hospital CEO Dr Polapoi Chalau said yesterday that 42 bodies had been left “for too long”.
Some of the bodies have been at the morgue since last January.
The hospital morgue caters for only 40 bodies and stores them for only seven days, he said.
He said the morgue was purposely to keep dead bodies for identification, post-mortem examination, before burial.
Funeral arrangements had always been the responsibilities of the relatives.
He advised that after a month, the hospital would conduct a mass burial at the Second Seven cemetery.
He stressed that relatives had to pick up the bodies and give them “a decent burial”.
The morgue was becoming overcrowded with new dead bodies being placed daily.
He said overcrowding could lead adversely affect the refrigeration system and worsen the condition of the bodies.
Chalau said 22 of the bodies were unknown.
He also said there were 18 babies, 14 of which could not be identified.
He added that of 20 adult bodies, 16 were from the communities and wards within Lae district while three were referral patients from health centres outside of Lae.
Among the total dead, three died from motor vehicle accident; two from cholera while the rest were from various illness and sicknesses.