79-body mass burial in POM

News that matter in Papua New Guinea

79-body mass burial in POM

PORT MORESBY: The 79 unclaimed bodies in Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH)’s mortuary was mass buried at 9-Mile cemetery yesterday (Jan 4, 20223).

PMGH mortuary attendant Davis Angus said the mass nurial had to be carried out because the mortuary was full, with some bodies left in the layout area.

“These bodies (were received) from March to July,” he added.

The news break was reported by The National:

Buried by strangers

January 5, 2023The NationalMain Stories

By LULU MARK
DARK clouds hovered over the Nine-Mile cemetery as 79 bodies and 49 body parts left unclaimed at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) mortuary were buried yesterday.
PMGH mortuary attendant Davis Angus said the mass burial had to be carried out because the hospital mortuary was full, with some bodies left in the layout area.
“These bodies (were received at the mortuary) from March to July last year,” he said.
“It is a concern that relatives are not coming forward to claim (the bodies of) their family members.
“Some are genuinely not aware that a relative had passed away, while others did not come forward mainly because of financial (reasons).”
The 79 bodies included 48 adults and 31 children. They were someone’s family members but there was no sign of relatives at the cemetery.
But despite that, there was an atmosphere of sadness and a general sense of loss as the coffins were lowered into the graves. There was no wailing and mourning as they were buried by total strangers.
Coffins were placed on top of each other in big graves which were covered up by a bulldozer.
Their names, dates of death, genders, ages if known, names of the storage container the body was taken from at the mortuary, and the RIP (rest in peace) written in green on the coffins were all there was for their identities.
PMGH director of medical services and acting chief executive officer Dr Kone Sobi urged the people to take the bodies of their loves and accord them a decent burial.
He said the mass burial cost the hospital around K95,000.
There were supposed to be 92 bodies buried yesterday but 13 were taken by family members recently.
Yesterday, with signs of imminent rain, men dressed in white contracted to carry out the mass burial completed it within an hour (11am to 12pm).
No headstones, no follow-up traditional burial rites.

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