Duque de Caxias Hospital Morgue Has Piled up Bodies; Dead Lining Corridors

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several bodies are piled up in the facility, as shown in photos taken on Saturday, April 25th. The situation is so chaotic that there are bodies lying in corridors. The reports were confirmed yesterday afternoon by the Duque de Caxias City Hall.

At least 12 bodies are found in the corridor near the morgue, which has a capacity for 25 corpses and is located on the hospital’s lower floor. According to the municipality, these are the bodies of Covid-19 victims. The stench, according to officials, can now be felt from other access corridors.

The bodies are likely those of individuals whose families cannot afford to bury them.

Mayor Washington Reis, who was discharged from care this week after 13 days hospitalized with coronavirus, said the city typically records 25 daily deaths.

“During the pandemic, that figure is increasing,” he said. He has been fighting a legal battle for over three years against the AGR concessionaire, responsible for the city’s funeral services. Reis is against the prices charged by the mortuary, which exclude the low-income population.

“We will take all the necessary steps, issue a decree, and set the price of emergency burials at less than R$1,000, and the city will pay the costs for families who have no means of burying their loved ones,” concluded the mayor.

In a statement, Duque de Caxias City Hall said it found the bodies piled up on Saturday, “abandoned by the concessionaire in the hospital morgue. The bodies were on site, dangerously conditioned, posing a high risk to the staff and other patients in the facility.

When questioned, AGR concessionaire, responsible for funeral services in Duque de Caxias, said the removal of bodies was requested by the city on Saturday. Upon request, “the company immediately sent vehicles to remove the bodies. The teams are in the hospital doing their work since morning”. In a statement, AGR further reported that the bodies whose relatives are present to identify them will also be removed.

Source: Extra