The body being conveyed to the morgue
Drama unfolded at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital morgue in Sekondi when mortuary attendants allegedly rejected a purported decomposed corpse last Friday.
The body was that of a male resident of Nkontompo near Sekondi, called Uncle Kofi, popularly known as ‘Alright’.
The decomposed body was discovered in his room. The discovery was prompted by a foul odor that had permeated the area.
Initially, residents thought it was the stench of a rotten animal until they discovered the decomposing body of Uncle Kofi in his room.
The deceased’s landlord, Samuel Kwofie, and some members of the Nkontompo Electoral Area Unit Committee, immediately notified the police.
While waiting for the police, some residents in the area decided to transport the remains of the deceased to the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital morgue, probably because of the stench.
However, the mortuary attendants refused to accept the body.
The rejection of the decomposed corpse by mortuary attendants sparked outrage among some youth of Nkontompo.
The body was later returned to the Nkontompo community, with the overpowering smell.
According to sources, the body sat in the open until the police returned with a team from the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Environmental Health Office, who finally conveyed the body back to the morgue for proper storage.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Christian Baidoo, explained that the remains were not prepared according to standard protocol before it was conveyed to the hospital’s morgue.
“The community ought to have involved the environmental health officers from the onset to properly handle the decomposed body before bringing it to the mortuary,” he explained further.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi