Health Ministry forms inquiry committee

Manama, July 29 (BNA): Health Minister Faeqa bint Said Al-Saleh has praised the personal follow-up of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on the transfer of the dead body of a woman to the Al-Hidd Cemetery by mistake, as well as his sound directives to immediately inquire into the circumstances of the incident and to take the necessary measures to ensure its non-recurrence. The Prime Minister’s directives reflect his personal interest in following up on pressing humanitarian issues that are directly related to the citizens, especially regarding health, the minister said, affirming HRH Premier’s humanitarian sense, care about all social issues and constant directives to fulfill the citizens’ aspirations. Regarding the burial of a dead woman as being a man in Al-Hidd Cemetery, the minister offered condolences to the families of the deceased, and apologized for the unintentional mistake resulting from the failure to take the usual measures adopted in this regard, including the verification of the body before its delivery. Al-Saleh explained that a relative of the dead man’s reported to the morgue on Thursday morning, finaliseed all procedures and promised to come back later to receive the body. However, she added, he did not come back, and the morgue received, at 16:30, a call asking for the transfer of the dead body of the "man" to the Al-Hidd Cemetery, the dead body of a woman was sent without verification. The minister affirmed that the report of some media outlets was not accurate, explaining that an employee from the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) discovered the error before the end of the burial following a call from a relative of the deceased’s. After that, the dead body of the man was buried in the right place –Al-Hidd Cemetery, and that of the dead woman was buried in the Muharraq Cemetery. The Health Minister asserted that upon directives from HRH Premier, the ministry will take all stringent measures concerning SMC’s morgue, as well as set up a probe committee to hold accountable the negligent, and to prevent the recurrence of the error in the future.