The administration of the Kalubowila (Colombo South) Teaching Hospital has decided to temporarily halt the acceptance of unidentified corpses or those which have no claimant.
 
The decision was taken owing to the fact that 28 of the 36 freezers facilitated for the keeping of bodies in the hospital’s mortuary have been occupied by unclaimed corpses for the past year and two months.
 
Among these bodies are those handed over by various police stations, and those who died at the hospital, yet remain unclaimed.
 
Revealing that nearly eight to ten bodies are received by the hospital on a daily basis, by way of court orders or other means, the administration of the hospital stressed the need for more space in the mortuary, as out of the 36 freezers, two have been dedicated to preserving body parts and other essential services, thereby leaving them with only six vacant freezers.
 
The administration identified that the main reason for the pile-up of such bodies is the fact that the Police do not conduct the required postmortem examinations.
 
Thus, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital has informed the OICs of all relevant police stations, through the Director of the Hospital, that no unidentified bodies or those without a claimant brought by the Police will be accepted by the hospital, for a temporary period of time.
 
Meanwhile, it is reportedly claimed that there are nearly 60 unclaimed bodies which have been piled up at the Colombo National Hospital for over two years.