Ada East conducts mass burial for eight unidentified bodies after 15 years in mortuary

The Ada East Environmental Health Department, in collaboration with the Ada East District Hospital, has undertaken a mass burial for eight unidentified bodies as part of efforts to sanitise the community and protect public health.

Mr Joshua Manab, District Environmental Health Officer, said the exercise became necessary due to the prolonged stay of some bodies in the hospital mortuary, with some dating back over 15 years. He warned that such delays posed serious environmental and health risks.

He explained that unidentified bodies—often accident victims or natural deaths—are cleared for burial only after police investigations, announcements, and publications fail to trace relatives. During the exercise, the Ghana News Agency observed that the state of the bodies made it impossible to distinguish males from females.

Mr Manab lamented the lack of government support for mass burials, noting that the financial burden often falls on his department, which also struggles with inadequate staffing, poor logistics, lack of transport, and insufficient supplies for handling and sanitising bodies. He urged government to provide resources and recruit more officers to strengthen sanitation and mortuary management in the district.