PH
Kenya’s main referral hospital announced on Tuesday that it would dispose of more than 500 unclaimed dead, the most of which were youngsters.
Families have up to seven days to identify and remove the 541 bodies from the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary, according to a notice posted on its website.
“Failure to which the hospital will seek authority from the courts to dispose of them,” according to the statement.
More than three-quarters of the bodies are of children who died in the middle of the previous year.
While the majority of the deceased’s names and ages were revealed, the identities of over a dozen adults remained unknown.
Kenyan public health rules prohibit keeping a body at a public mortuary for more than 10 days before burial.
Extra days beyond the authorized term incur a penalty, and failing to comply with the requirements might result in a six-month prison sentence.
Unclaimed bodies are not uncommon in the East African country, where officials say relatives are sometimes unaware of the deaths or forsake their loved ones due to hefty medical and mortuary bills.
Uncollected bodies beyond the grace period are buried in mass graves.
