Naivasha hospital: Mortuary to bury unclaimed bodies in 21 days

Public health department in Naivasha has issued a 21-day notice to bury 35 unclaimed bodies lying at the Naivasha district hospital mortuary.

The department called on members of the public whose kin had been missing to check with the hospital before the bodies are disposed.

Issuing the notice, Naivasha district public health officer Mr Samuel King’ori noted that some of bodies were badly decomposed.

King’ori said that the bodies had exceeded the required 21 days in the mortuary and hence the move to dispose them.

“The hospital hereby issues a twenty one day notice for the bodies to be claimed failure to which they will be buried in a mass grave at the municipal cemetery,” reads the notice in part.

Among the bodies set for disposal are 12 minors below four years who had died in the hospital.

King’ori expressed his concern over the high number of relatives abandoning their kin in the hospital once they died.

“Majority of the minors died in the hospital wards and their relatives decided to abandon them and hence the crisis,” he noted.

The superintendent in charge of the hospital Dr Joseph Mburu confirmed the crisis in the mortuary.

He said that services in the facility whose capacity is twelve bodies were overstretched and hence the move to dispose the bodies.

Mburu however noted that one of the bodies had been identified, collected and buried by relatives.

“The hospital currently has over fifty bodies against a capacity of twelve and this is affecting our services,” he said.

The doctor noted with concern over certain communities that were abandoning their babies in the hospital wards whenever they passed on.

“We have come to realize that some communities do not bury their minors and have been abandoning them in the hospital,” he noted.

He said the bodies are taking their toll on the hospital's budget as the number increases by the day. Mburu said the mortuary capacity is 12 but they currently have about 50 bodies.

“We have issued a notice through the courts to bury the 26 unclaimed bodies, which have been in the mortuary for more than three months,” he said.

hospital superintendent Dr Joseph Mburu said majority of the unclaimed bodies were brought in by police who had collected them from accident scenes and other areas.

He said the hospital has the highest number of unclaimed bodies in Kenya. The doctor said there is an urgent need to open a council mortuary in the town to deal with the high number of unclaimed bodies.

He said that a council mortuary constructed by an investor in the 1990s needs to be refurbished as it had been vandalised.

He said the hospital has the highest number of unclaimed bodies in Kenya. The doctor said there is an urgent need to open a council mortuary in the town to deal with the high number of unclaimed bodies.

He said that a council mortuary constructed by an investor in the 1990s needs to be refurbished as it had been vandalised.

Thursday 07 November 2013

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-142709/naivasha-hospital-bury-unclaimed-dead

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000065434&story_title=Kenya:%20Mortuary%20to%20bury%20unclaimed%20bodies%20in%2021%20days