The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

AUBYNETTE Rolle, managing director of the Public Hospitals Authority, said the Princess Margaret Hospital morgue is able to house the bodies of those who lost their lives in Sunday’s human smuggling incident.

Yesterday, Rolle told reporters that officials were able to process the bodies with the assistance of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, however, they are waiting on an update from RBPF.

She said the bodies of those who lost their lives are now being stored securely.

“In most cases the morgue has a lot of bodies, but fortunately we had a reserve, what we call our external coolers that we were going to use for COVID, so they have been placed in there securely. At this point we don’t have any issues with space at all,” she said.

Ms Rolle said officials do not anticipate any issues with the storage of the bodies as the coolers are able to hold a large number of deceased.

“The coolers that we’re using were completed empty and they could take a lot of deceased. So, we don’t anticipate any issues at this point,” she told reporters.

She appealed to those who suspect their loved ones were among the dead to contact the various agencies.

Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said investigators had collected only two forms of identification from the deceased.

Still, he appealed to anyone with information on the tragedy or who suspects their loved one was among the dead to contact them.

Yesterday, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe was asked for an update on the deceased.

He said: “The most that I have been briefed on is that there were travel documents found on two or three of the deceased and the efforts remain to seek identification of the others. It is felt that some may have been in our community for a while, but with the persons who may know them may be afraid to come forward to identify them because they might not have status.

“We’re concerned now with identifying these bodies for them to have a decent burial or disposal as the family wishes so feel free to come forward so that we can get this process of identification done as expeditiously as possible.”