Mass burial for 34 bodies soon

By PISAI GUMAR
THE Angau General Hospital management in Lae, Morobe, will conduct a mass burial of 34 unclaimed bodies at the end of this month.
The two-week notice is to give relatives enough time to collect the bodies, if they want ed to.
In a statement, chief executive officer Polapoi Chalau said the morgue could only hold 40 bodies for identification, post-mortem examinations or while awaiting funeral arrangements.
Chalau said the deceased were kept for up to seven days to give ample time for relatives to arrange for removal, repatriation and funeral arrangements.
“The general public should be aware that the hospital is not responsible for funeral arrangements and burials,” he said.
“The overcrowding of bodies in the mortuary affects the cooling system, which could cause an adverse affect on the deceased,” Chalau said.
“Some unclaimed bodies date back to January 2011.”
He said a mass burial would be conducted at the Second Seven Cemetery after approval had been sought from Lae City Council coroner’s office.
There are 27 adults and seven unknown babies. Among the 27 adults are seven unknown adult males and two unknown female adults.
The names of the identified deceased are: Aken Peter, Banipas Gikivai, Bone Semith, Hene Paul, Maria James, Desley Deaney, Christina Kawan, Abane Roreng, Ferman Jack, Jerry David, Peter Teme, Mike Alu, Helen Aiva, Jane Peter, Thomas Nando, Michael Mai, Margaret and David.   
Most of the deceased have no province of origin.
Three were identified as from Morobe, two from Chimbu and one from Central.