More morgue space needed to store bodies

ANGAU Memorial Hospital staff are still awaiting two more freezer containers to be brought to the morgue to assist with the storage of the bodies from the crash while the number of dead has gone up to 43. The morgue supervisor Welong Windy said yesterday that the morgue freezer was filled to capacity and this had affected the cooling system. He said the freezer was not capable of accommodating so many bodies. Mr Kelong said that the six bodies from the plane crash and the eight escapees that were shot are still in freezer along with other bodies. Relatives, who came to collect the bodies of their dead yesterday, were told to return next week after a coronial is carried out. The hospital is waiting for approval from the courts before they begin the coroner’s inquest. The accident death toll now stands at 43 of which 37 from the crashsite were brought to Angau, three to Lae International Hospital, two were buried straight away by relatives at Markham while one body was brought in from the Mutzing health centre yesterday According to authorities, 26 of the 37 bodies had been identified, leaving 12 to be identified. Nine of the dead are from the Highlands provinces, one is from Kokoda, Oro province, and the remaining are from Morobe province’s Markham district.