General

The Tangalle Base Hospital's mortuary is currently dealing with a serious lack of space. As a result, hospital staff have had to place deceased individuals covered in ice on trolleys in the corridor outside the morgue. Bodies from various regional and district hospitals, including Beliatta, Nakulugamuwa, Ranna, Angunakolapelessa, and Weeraketiya, along with accident victims from the area, are sent to Tangalle Base Hospital for post-mortem examinations. These bodies are stored in the morgue until the examinations are finished. However, for the past four years, the hospital has struggled with inadequate freezer facilities. The previous morgue had a freezer that could hold six bodies, but it is now broken and unusable. The newly constructed morgue contains only one freezer that can accommodate two bodies, which is not enough. Consequently, when the morgue is full, the hospital cannot properly store additional bodies. This morning (12), staff had to place three bodies in the corridor, covered in ice, while another body was left on a trolley outside the freezer. Families of the deceased had to supply ice themselves, adding to their hardship and distress in this difficult situation.