The source said the morgues are working at about 150 percent of their capacity and are currently storing 300 unidentified bodies, some of which have remained there for a long time.

He added that the morgues should leave 25 percent of capacity vacant for emergency and disaster situations.

“We are facing a serious problem which has not just happened today. It is not only Jazan that suffers from this problem of wondering what to do with unidentified bodies. This also happens in other regions of the Kingdom. The problem is more conspicuous in Jazan because it is a border region,” he said.

The source said local border guards, Mujahideen or police brought in most of the bodies. He added that they lie there for many years as there is no limit on how long bodies should remain in cold storage.

He added it was not within their power to simply remove the bodies from the morgues, because the matter is tied to security and legal procedures that need to be completed first.

“The bodies remain in the morgues until we receive orders to bury them or repatriate them if they are of foreigners,” he said.

The official said the Department of Health Affairs asked Jazan’s governorate to take steps toward burying the bodies after ascertaining their identity using DNA samples.

Spokesman of the Border Guards Col. Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Mahfouz denied that they were responsible for the overcrowding of bodies in hospital morgues and said their duty was to hand over unidentified bodies to the local Department of Health Affairs.

Spokesman of Jazan police Capt. Abdullah bin Maiedh Al-Qarni also denied responsibility and said his force’s duty was to take bodies to the nearest hospital.

He said Jazan had more unidentified bodies because many infiltrators from neighboring countries lose their lives due to the summer heat.