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Tag: Morgue

  • Unidentified bodies in Accra to be held by Korle-Bu morgue

    Unidentified bodies in Accra to be held by Korle-Bu morgue

    The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra is set to transfer its mortuary to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to serve as a city morgue for the preservation of unidentified bodies.

    This decision comes as the hospital concludes the construction of a new mortuary as part of its centenary anniversary celebrations.

    Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, revealed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra. He explained that the construction of the new morgue was undertaken through a private-public partnership agreement.

    Dr. Ampomah emphasized the necessity for a dedicated city morgue in Accra to handle cases involving unidentified bodies, victims of hit-and-run incidents, and abandoned corpses requiring forensic examination and DNA tracing to locate their families.

    He highlighted the current practice where health facilities like Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals act as default morgues for unidentified bodies. Dr. Ampomah noted that aside from the financial burden of refrigerating these bodies, the hospitals are also responsible for organizing mass burials, including pre-burial advertising, using their limited resources.

    Additionally, the hospitals incur expenses for burial permits payable to the city authority, which bears primary responsibility for managing abandoned bodies.

    “City authorities are the bodies which receive taxes, such as property rates and, therefore, are responsible for these unidentified bodies,” the CEO said.

    Dr. Ampomah further highlighted the challenges faced by pathologists, including consultant pathologists, who worked on unidentified bodies. Despite their efforts, they were compensated with less than GH¢5 for each body, and at times, these payments were not even fulfilled.

    In addition to addressing the issues surrounding unidentified bodies, Dr. Ampomah outlined several other projects planned by the hospital. These include the rehabilitation of the Endoscopy unit, the construction of a Paediatric Oncology unit, a new 24-hour pharmacy annex, and the transformation of the Dietherapy unit into a Nutrition and Dietetics Department.

    To commemorate the hospital’s centenary anniversary, various activities have been scheduled, including public lectures, outreach programs, an awards and fundraising dinner dance, remembrance day, a float, homecoming, and an innovation summit.

    Dr. Ampomah appealed to corporate bodies and individuals to support these initiatives. Interested donors can reach out to the hospital’s public relations unit or make contributions through a dedicated short code 713100#.

  • Manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue, 3 others charged with selling body parts

    Manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue, 3 others charged with selling body parts

    Four individuals, including the manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue, Cedric Lodge, have been charged with the illegal trade of stolen human remains.

    Lodge is alleged to have taken various body parts, including heads, brains, skin, and bones, from cadavers donated to Harvard University’s medical school and sold them online.

    Alongside his wife, Denise, Lodge is accused of selling these body parts to buyers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts between 2018 and 2021.

    According to prosecutors, Lodge exploited his role as the manager of the “Anatomical Gifts Program” at Harvard Medical School to dismember cadavers that were initially donated for medical research.

    Typically, donated bodies are utilized by Harvard students for studying and practicing medical procedures. Once the school completes its use of the cadavers, the remains are either returned to the families or interred in the university’s medical cemetery through cremation.

    However, the indictment alleges that Lodge and his wife engaged in the unlawful activity of harvesting, selling, and shipping body parts from these donated cadavers instead.


    “At times, Cedric Lodge allowed [others] to enter the morgue at Harvard Medical School and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase,” according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office.

    Katrina Maclean of Salem, Massachusetts, and Joshua Taylor, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania, allegedly bought body parts.

    The manager of Harvard Medical School’s morgue allegedly harvested, sold and shipped human remains for years, according to prosecutors

    According to the charging statement, in October 2020, Ms Maclean purchased dissected faces for $600 (£473) that she intended to have tanned into leather. 

    Ms Maclean is the owner of a store called Kat’s Creepy Creations. Social media accounts for the business show she specialised in up-cycling dolls into gothic, blood-soaked, horror novelties. It is unclear if the cadaver parts were used in her products. The indictment alleges she stored and sold human remains at the store. 

    Mr Taylor allegedly made 39 electronic payments to Ms Lodge for stolen body parts over the course of four years, totalling more than $37,000 (£29,226). The indictment included a grim reference to a PayPal memo for a purchase of $1,000 (£790) that allegedly read, “head number 7”.

    “Some crimes defy understanding,” said United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam in a statement. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human.”

    Both Cedric and Denise Lodge refused to answer reporters’ questions after making an initial appearance at a New Hampshire federal courthouse on Wednesday. 

    All four defendants have been indicted on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges. If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison.

  • Eastern region: 6-month-old dies in 8feet polytank

    Eastern region: 6-month-old dies in 8feet polytank

    A lifeless body of a 6-month-old baby has been retrieved in a water-filled polytank at a building site in Nkurakan, Yilo Krobo Municipality, in the Eastern region.

    The baby got missing on Saturday May 6, 2023 but found drowned in polytank erected about 8 feet tall above ground level next day Sunday afternoon.

    The mother is said to have left the now deceased baby in the custody of other children to fetch water. But upon return, the children told her a man came around and picked the baby.

    Frantic search for the baby proved futile on the fateful Saturday.

    Continuous search on Sunday found the baby drowned in a Polytank at a construction site near the house.

    A ladder was used to climb the Polytank to get inside to retrieve the body of the baby.

    The body has been deposited at the morgue of Eastern Regional hospital by Police to aide investigation.

    The Police have not  meanwhile arrested a suspect.

  • Breaking: Accident on Kintampo Highway claims 22 lives

    Breaking: Accident on Kintampo Highway claims 22 lives

    An accident on the Kintampo Highway have claimed about 22 lives.

    The accident according to a Graphic.com report sighted by GhanaWeb occurred on the evening of Sunday, March 5, 2023.

    A resident narrated that the crash involved a Yendi-Kumasi bound Grandbird bus with registration number AS 4635 – 22 and a truck with registration number GW 1127 – P.

    The eyewitness said the articulated truck at about 11 pm on Sunday, veered off its lane and entered the lane of the bus in an attempt to avoid crashing into another car which was parked on the lane.

    The bus as a result crashed into the truck killing 22 passengers and causing injury to many.

    The incident is said to have occurred along a section of the road between Kintampo and Babatokuma.

    The deceased victims have since been deposited at the Kintampo Government Hospital morgue while the injured victims are being treated at the same hospital.

    Meanwhile, drivers of both vehicles according to the report survived the accident and are currently in police custody assisting in investigation.

  • Man allegedly murders 55-year-old friend over goat meat

    A man, only identified as Azulay, has allegedly hit his 55-year-old friend, Buley to death with a stick over goat meat.

    The sad incident happened at Sehwi Paboase in the Sehwi Wiawso Municipality of the Western North region.

    According to the report, the two are close friends who do everything together in the community, including the consumption of abandoned dead animals.

    Information gathered by Adom News‘ Augustine Boah suggests they always look for a dead animal, prepare and share it among themselves.

    The assemblyman for Paboase electoral area, Simon Okom, said a misunderstanding, however, ensued between them over a recent dead goat a resident gave to them.

    Azulay felt cheated because his suck was used to carry the dead goat and was expecting to get a greater share of the meat.

    The matter, which many thought had been resolved, came up again after he went to the deceased’s house to take his suck during which they reportedly attacked each other with cutlasses and sticks.

    Unfortunately, Azulay struck Buley’s head with a stick, causing him to be unconscious but was later pronounced dead by the medics at the Sehwi government hospital.

    The corpse has been deposited at the Sehwi Wiawso government hospital morgue.

    Meanwhile, the suspect, Azulay is said to have fled the town after committing the crime.

  • 55-year-old man killed during fight over goat meat

    A 55-year-old man has reportedly been killed during a fight over goat meat at Sehwi Paboase, a community in the Sehwi Wiawso Municipality of the Western North region.

    According to onuaonline.com, the victim who was identified as Buley was hit on the head by his close friend, Azuley, as they were fighting over a dead goat given to them by a neighbour.

    The report indicated that Buley and Azuley have been hunting for carcasses together but the goat meat they were given created some confusion between them after Buley felt cheated because of the part of the meat he was given.

    The two men started an altercation over the meat but the issue was resolved and they both went to their homes.

    The assemblyman for Paboase Electoral Area, Simon Okom, who was narrating the incident, said that the fight rekindled the next day when Buley went to Azuley’s house for his sack.

    He added that as the two men were fighting Azuley struck Buley’s head with a club and he was pronounced dead at the Sehwi Wiawso Government Hospital.

    “They both go around looking for carcasses. So a man gave them a goat and Buley felt cheated after getting only the head and some parts.

    “When he went home for his sack this morning, the disagreement continued and Buley hit Azuley first. So Azuley also hit him with a stick and he fell unconscious and died,” he is quoted to have said by onuaonline.com.

    The report also indicated that the mortal remains of the victim have been deposited at the Sehwi Wiawso Government Hospital Morgue.

    It added that the suspect, Azuley, run away from the community after the incident.