Rivers
New BMSH Mortuary Set For Use
There are indications that the new mortuary built in the Braitwaite Memorial Specialists Hospital (BMSH), Port Harcourt, would soon be put into use.
This hint was given midweek to The Tide by the Chief Pathologist of the hospital, Dr. Charles Amakiri during a chat in his office.
Dr. Amakiri, who lamented the state of the corpses in the old mortuary explained that the new mortuary would have been in use earlier than now but for some logistic problems which, according to him, would soon be taken care of.
On the state of the corpses in the old mortuary, the Chief Pathologist said it was jampacked with mostly unidentified corpses deposited by such bodies as the Police.
“As a government-owned hospital, we are obligated to accept all manner of corpses, including road traffic accident victims, gun shot victims, etc, and ensure that they are well preserved.”
The Tide’s source in the mortuary revealed that because they accepted all kinds of corpses with some individuals abandoning corpses they deposited, the mortuary was often jampacked with corpses.
The source further revealed that the old mortuary has a capacity of 300 spaces while the new mortuary could contain as much as 400.
According to mortuary sources, the corpses, numbering over 700, are piled one on top another from the ground because “there are no shelves on which to place the corporses separately.”
When The Tide visited the mortuary, the corpses clearly occupied every facet of the floor making it difficult for mortuary attendants to move freely and take off the corpses.
Meanwhile, Dr. Amakiri also stated that the mass burial of corpses in the hospital’s mortuary which was to hold last year will hold soon.
According to him, the modalities for carrying out the mass burial are being worked out and is expected to be concluded very soon.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker confirmed that the new mortuary would soon be put into use.