A morgue in the Papua New Guinea city of Lae has been found to pose a major health risk with inadequate working conditions and rats found to be feeding on corpses.
The Angau Memorial Hospital morgue is believed to be condemned however was still being used to store bodies and to conduct post mortems for coroner cases.
The Post Courier newspaper reports the three rooms in the building are still being used, one as an office, another for bodies waiting to be put into freezers and the third for conducting post mortems.
Local reports confirmed deteriorating facilities unfit for doctors and police forensic officers.
A relative of a deceased person raised concerns following the unavailability of protection equipment for doctors and officers.
There was reportedly no equipment like face masks, medical gloves, tissues or cleaning chemicals and soaps.
The relative said the floor was filled with water, the ceiling was broken and ventilation was bad.
The relative said her brother was placed in the morgue and she was shocked to find that parts of bodies had been eaten by rats.
PNG Angau hospital Photo: RNZ Pacific
