Hundreds of bodies lie unclaimed in city mortuaries

Nearly 200 bodies have been unclaimed from state mortuaries around the Tshwane metro in the past three years.

And throughout Gauteng, more than 4 000 bodies were unidentified or unclaimed during that period, and though there had been a decline in the past, the numbers were showing growth which had officials worried.

Gauteng MEC for health and social development Qedani Mahlangu said there were various reasons for the unidentified bodies. “The main reasons include: lack of authentic identification documentation; foreign nationals and South Africans from other provinces who travel without ID documents; and socio-economic reasons, including resource constraints for burial for families,” she said.

“From 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, mortuaries had 1 603 unidentified and 242 unclaimed bodies, from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014, 1 254 unidentified and 334 unclaimed and from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, 1 272 unidentified and 403 unclaimed. In the period under review, Pretoria had 181 unclaimed bodies, Springs 203, Roodepoort 145 and Johannesburg 119.

Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng shadow MEC for health said this showed the Gauteng health department had been struggling since 2006 to develop an internet-based system that could assist people with identifying bodies. “According to the MEC, the Gauteng forensic pathology ‘is currently developing a comprehensive mortuary management system targeting January 2016 for completion with first phase piloting for February 2016,” said Bloom.

The DA hoped that the internet system was implemented sooner rather than later to give relatives looking for missing loved ones a central database, rather than having to visit each and every mortuary around the country, which was very traumatic and time-consuming.

Thursday 5 November 2015

http://rekordeast.co.za/70174/hundreds-of-bodies-lie-unclaimed-in-city-mortuaries/

Pakistan factory collapses, killing at least 18, scores trapped

At least 18 people were killed and up to 150 trapped on Wednesday when a factory collapsed near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, officials said, adding to a number of industrial disasters to hit the South Asian nation.

Rescue workers digging for survivors with construction equipment have recovered 75 injured people so far, said Mohammad Usman, a senior local government official who was on the scene.

Eighteen dead bodies have also been found, he said.

Around 150 people were feared trapped under the rubble after the building collapsed, said rescue worker Kashif Nazir at the scene.

No part of the four-floor building remained standing after the disaster, and hundreds of rescue workers were carefully picking through piles of concrete and bricks to find survivors.

"People have received phone calls from three or four people from inside the debris, so we cannot remove the rubble recklessly," said Usman.

The military was flying urban search-and-rescue teams to the scene, said a military spokesman in a text message.

"Army engineers have been immediately moved for the rescue operation," the message said.

The factory, located at an industrial site about 20 km (12 miles) south of the city, manufactured shopping bags. It was not clear what caused the collapse, though construction work had been going on there.

"My son is a daily wage laborer here. We can't find him among the dead or the injured, so I am just hoping that he will be recovered from the rubble safely," said Mohammad Ramzan, whose 24-year-old son Amin was missing.

Pakistan's construction sector suffers from poor oversight and developers frequently flout building codes.

In September 2012, 289 people burned to death in a fire at a garment factory in the southern city of Karachi. On the same day, a fire at a shoe factory in Lahore killed 25.

Thursday 5 November 2015

http://news.yahoo.com/ten-dead-scores-trapped-pakistan-factory-collapses-145510307.html