Pakistan: Over 200 maggot-infested dead bodies found on hospital's roof

More than 200 dead bodies have been found on the roof of Nishtar Hospital in Multan, Pakistan. The government has ordered an inquiry into the matter related to the mortuary at Nishtar Hospital.

As per a report, multiple unidentified bodies were found in a room on the roof of the hospital. Many of these body parts are also missing.

However, Nishtar Medical University's (NMU) Head of Anatomy Department, Dr Mariam Ashraf told the media that the rescue officials and police were to blame for the piling up of bodies in the morgue and on its roof. 

Ashraf said that the medical facility could not refuse to accept the bodies as it was bound to take them in for safekeeping. "Police and rescue officials asked us to keep it in the hospital."

"The police and rescue officials do not take them back on time. We have written documents in which we have asked them to take the bodies. Since there is a lag, such things happen," the official said.

The bodies that the hospital receives from the police are usually decayed and cannot be kept in the mortuary, according to the hospital official.

"Due to its state, maggots begin to consume them, and they can move from one body to another. For this reason, the three rooms on the roof, where the remains are decomposing, are maintained there.

The hospital representative stated that there were only a few bodies held above ground, refuting rumours that there were 200 or more bodies on the rooftop.

In reply to a question about the nonfunctional morgues, Ashraf said the hospital administration recently held a meeting with the Secretary of Health at Punjab Secondary Healthcare and Medical Education Department.