Family find body of kin missing from the morgue

There was confusion at the Embu Level Five Hospital morgue for the better part of Thursday morning, after a family found the body of their deceased sister missing.

Security guards at the gate had a hard time controlling the angry family and friends as some threatened to break into the morgue demanding an explanation on the whereabouts of Daisy Karimi’s body.

Charity Munyi, sister to the deceased, said she was admitted to the hospital with kidney complications on Wednesday, June 16 and died on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

“We were given the wrong body and upon inquiry, they informed us that another family had picked my sister's body,” Munyi said.

"We were at the mortuary by 8.30 am when we were given the wrong body, for close to 10 hours now, the mortuary attendants are taking us around," said Catherine Nyaga, the deceased’s cousin.

"We want the body and nothing less," added Peter Njeru, another member of the family.

The family members said they had been told the body of Karimi had already been buried by another family in Embu North.

"We followed up with the other family at Kathangari in Embu North and found that our sister had already been buried. We are now stranded at the mortuary and following the matter with the police," Munyi revealed.

Daniel Mugendi, Medical Superintendent at the hospital, said there was a mistake in the identification of the body by the Kathangari family.

“The first family (from Kathangari) returned and confirmed they had indeed carried the wrong body. We are in the process of getting a court order to exhume the body," he said.

"The identification of the body was faced with some challenges, but we should understand error is to human," Dr Mugendi went on.