Hospital wants people to collect bodies of relatives

National

By Glenda Awikiak
A HOSPITAL has warned that the 154 bodies in its mortuary since last November will be given a mass burial in two weeks’ if not collected by relatives.
Port Moresby General Hospital director of medical services Dr Paki Molumi said of the 154, 68 were men, 64 women and 22 children.
Molumi said most of the bodies were of those who died after being admitted at the hospital for various illnesses.
Six had died elsewhere and brought in to be kept at the morgue.
He said the number of “unclaimed” bodies had decreased after they held five mass burials last year, as more relatives were coming to take the bodies of their loved ones.
“Because of regular mass burials of unclaimed bodies in 2018, the number of unclaimed bodies is now fewer,” he said. “Bodies not claimed after a month are prepared for burial after approval by the coroner.
“Public are advised to come and claim the bodies (of their relatives). They are given two weeks from now or they will all go for a mass burial at the public cemetery at 9-Mile in Port Moresby.”
He said the morgue needed to be cleared.
“The reason for the mass burial is to create space in our morgue for new deaths coming in as PMGH is the major referral hospital that has more deaths every day,” Molumi said.
“The last of five mass burials done last year was in August.
“The first in 2019 will be in two weeks’.”
Meanwhile, the hospital did not face any power disruptions during the recent outages in the city because it has five standby generators.