Mortuary closed, dead bodies on floor
The breaking down of cold room at Salima District hospital mortuary has forced the institution to keep dead bodies on the bare floor, Malawi media reports on Sunday indicated.
According to the Nation on Sunday paper and Zodiac Broadcasting Station (ZBS), the cold room has not been operating for the past three months, raising concerns of a serious health problem.
ZBS, quoting sources, reported that three compartments of the cold room are not being used due to lack of security locks, forcing officials to seal of the doors with wires.
The sources disclosed that three of the six cold room compartments have been out of use for three months now.
Despite reporting the case to authorities, hospital officials say there has been no sensible response yet.
The situation is reportedly forcing mortuary attendants to keep dead bodies on the bare floor due to congestion.
“Beside the situation, the mortuary is small since it was constructed long time ago before the population arose in the district,” one hospital officer told ZBS.
Principal Health Services Administrator George Ziba confirmed the development but quickly assured his office would be attending to the problem before the end of business last Thursday.
But until Sundat the situation remains the same.
Ziba has since asked “well wishers” to help with another mortuary.
