Peter Miva & Dulcie Oreke Aihi; 13/8/08
The Angau Memorial Hospital morgue in Lae is filled beyond its holding capacity with unclaimed dead bodies, prompting hospital management to call on relatives to collect them quickly. In response to queries raised about the morgue, the hospital’s public relations office confirmed yesterday that there were currently more than 70 bodies crammed into the morgue. About 20 of them were children.
Fatima Sidiya; 6/7/08
Police officers yesterday arrested three expatriates who were found with a dead body in their car, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday. The three men told police that a friend had asked them to dump the body, which was of an overstayer, near his consulate’s office in Jeddah. Officers said the man had died a natural death. Meanwhile, the dead body of an Indonesian woman was recently found inside a bag in front of the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah. Another woman was found dead and wrapped in a carpet near a garbage can. Maj. Abdul Muhsin Al-Mayman, spokesman for Makkah police, said, “These incidents do happen here (in Makkah) but not often. Things like this happen due to fear of being questioned by authorities, especially since these people don’t have official documents and might be overstayers.” He added, “They leave them so officials can give them a decent burial… the police get forensic experts to check the bodies and ascertain the cause of death. In fact, sometimes the bodies are in coffins.” Arab News attempted to contact both the Filipino and Indonesian consulates, but no one was available for comment.
Safia Al-Asmari; 2/5/08
Washing the deceased before burial is an Islamic imperative, but it’s not the most appealing job in the world — especially for women in Saudi Arabia. But Arab News found a number of women at Al-Muhajereen, a Makkah-based company that provides pre-burial services, who do the job out of a desire to earn God’s grace. These women have other jobs, such as teaching at secondary school and university. Awatef Abdulhamid Manshy, a 48-year-old mathematics teacher, told Arab News about her experience. “One of my relatives died late at night,” she said. “I went with my husband to search for a washer but we couldn’t find anyone because it was very late. I thought to myself: ‘If I were able to do this job we wouldn’t have a problem.’ Later I decided to join a training center for pre-burial preparations, and then I became a professional.”
