STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The central mortuary cooler at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) has remained out of order for the past week, forcing authorities to store bodies on the floor and on transport trolleys, while raising concerns over decomposition and the possible loss of forensic evidence.

DMC authorities said repairing the specialised cooler, which has the capacity to preserve up to 40 bodies, would take some time. Meanwhile, they have started handing over unclaimed bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam, which handles the burial of such corpses.

“The higher authorities have already been informed about the need to repair the cooler,” said DMC Principal Prof Dr Md Mazharul Shahin.

“Some unclaimed bodies have been handed over to Anjuman Mufidul Islam, and five more bodies remain. We expect to hand those over tomorrow [today],” he added.

According to morgue sources, the mortuary cooler became completely inoperative about a week ago.

Previously, the morgue relied on five smaller freezers, but those had become unusable several years ago. The current mortuary cooler was later installed as a replacement, officials said.

The DMC morgue conducts autopsies on around five to eight bodies daily.

During a visit to the DMC morgue on Monday, this correspondent found some corpses laid out on the floor inside a room adjacent to the college’s Forensic Medicine Department, while some others remained on trolleys for transporting bodies. The room had no air-conditioning or alternative cooling system.

A morgue staff member, requesting anonymity, said they had no option but to keep the bodies inside the room, adding that prolonged exposure to normal temperatures could damage crucial forensic evidence.

The staff member also expressed concern over possible rodent infestation.

The odour from decomposing bodies has also disrupted academic activities, making it difficult for students of the Forensic Medicine Department to attend classes, the source said.

A letter sent by Prof Dr Kazi Golam Mokhlesur Rahman, head of the Forensic Medicine Department, to the DMC principal on June 2 described the faulty mortuary cooler as an urgent issue requiring immediate repair.

However, as of yesterday, the cooler remained out of order.

Repeated attempts to contact Prof Rahman over the phone for comment were unsuccessful.