About two hundred and seventeen children and sixteen adults’ unclaimed bodies have been lying at Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary in Nairobi for four months.
Kenyatta hospital is planning a mass burial for the unclaimed, to be buried in one grave.
The Kenyatta hospital Chief Executive, Dr. Evanson Kamuri said that the mortuary was overcrowded, and they needed to create space for new bodies.
According to the list released, children are the most unclaimed, which is yet to be determined why.
The causes of death ranged from abortion and miscarriage to critical illness.
“We don’t send mothers home with the bodies of their premature babies. Some are aborted and others are brought in dead,” Dr Kamuri said.
“We want to create space for fresh bodies and cannot do this until the right procedure is followed. It is an ongoing process,” said Dr. Kamuri.
The list released by the hospital further indicates that the bodies piled up from July to August, which could be a pointer to high mortality at the country’s main referral hospital.
“If the number of bodies abandoned in the last month is about 217, how many deaths are recorded at the hospital?” a nurse told Nation Media.
Relatives and friends have 21 days to get the bodies.
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