JEDDAH: Around 70 dead bodies lie in Riyadh’s morgues unclaimed each year, said Dr. Saeed Al-Ghamdi, superintendent of the Forensics Center in the capital.
“This is considered a small number compared to some morgues in Makkah, especially during Haj and Umrah seasons. There are hundreds of unclaimed bodies in Makkah annually,” he told Arab News.
Unclaimed dead bodies used to be kept in morgues for up to seven months in the past. However, following new guidelines, such bodies are buried after two months. Most unidentified bodies in Makkah belong to overstayers or pilgrims.
“The system for unidentified or unclaimed bodies is the same. If a body is identified then it is buried or sent to the person’s kin following approval from the responsible authorities,” said Al-Ghamdi.
“However, bodies that are not identified are kept for up to two months and then buried. ... Prior to the burial we take the person’s DNA, fingerprints and a photograph. This information is filed and sent automatically to a police database,” he added.
According to Al-Ghamdi, some bodies are unidentifiable, especially people who die trying to cross deserts.
“Taking DNA is necessary in some cases and files are kept in case someone reports a missing person,” he added.
Ali Al-Sahafi, superintendent of the Deaths Department at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz Hospital, said that there are few cases of unidentified bodies here. “We have three or four cases a year,” he told Arab News.
“We first identify their nationality and report the death to the police if the person is Saudi. In the case of expatriates, their embassies are notified,” he added.
“If the police cannot identify a body, then we wait for permission from the secretariat to bury the person after two months,” he said, adding that the Haj Department is responsible for the bodies of pilgrims.
