Over 50 corpses burnt to ashes In Anambra mortuary

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6 years ago

Tears were like sea yesterday at Enugwu Ukwu General Hospital in Njikoka local government of Anambra State as the mortuary in the hospital caught fire and burnt more than 50 corpses in the hospital.

A source in the community who does not want to be mention told Tribune Online, that neither the Anambra state government nor the hospital management were able to pull themselves together as at press time to state how many corpses that were burnt and how the fire came about.

Several families numbering over a hundred were at the hospital at loss on what next to do after the Christmas having slated the burial of their loved ones for January.

However, it was also gathered that over 50 corpses were in the mortuary and most of the corpses were burnt beyond recognition.

The fire started by 3 pm on Saturday and gradually burnt the 3 room apartment of the mortuary.

Only one of the morticians was on duty as it was not a duty day as most Anambra families don’t bury their loved ones on Saturday but Thursday or Friday.

The fire was suspected to come from bush burning as the hospital and most other hospitals were overgrown with grasses especially its surrounding environment.

The high number of corpses involved might not be unconnected with the rule in Anambra that no burials were allowed from 15th of December to give way for celebrations.

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The state police command’s spokesperson, SP Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, said a Police Patrol team led by DPO Nimo Division CSP Egu Benjamin rushed to the Scene and cordoned off the Area to prevent looters from taking advantage of the situation to loot before contacting firefighters.

The fire Service department arrived at the scene and put off the fire with the help of local volunteers.

Haruna said the cause of the fire was yet unknown, but stated that the case was under investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident