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The Ghana Police Hospital in Accra is saddled with a number of unidentified and unclaimed bodies in their mortuary.

The unidentified bodies were those brought in dead by Good Samaritans while the unclaimed were those abandoned in the mortuary by their families.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, DSP Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, there are currently 160 bodies unidentified or claimed by their relatives since May this year.

DSP Nketia-Yeboah told The Mirror that with the unidentified bodies, some were victims of road accidents, mentally challenged persons, people with memory loss, beggars and others who were rushed to the hospital after collapsing or in coma.

“For the unclaimed bodies, some were brought on admission by their families but when they died the bodies have not been claimed for a period of up to four months,” he explained.

Citing examples of unidentified cases, DSP Nketia-Yeboah said on May 30, 2019 for instance, an unknown female adult, believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s and her son aged two, were rushed to the hospital by some unknown persons.

According to those who brought them, a wall collapsed and fell on them at Kokomlemle, a suburb of Accra.

“Unfortunately, the young woman and her child died before arrival and so were deposited at the mortuary.
She is brown in complexion and has a small mark on the forehead and had plaited corn roll. We hope she could be identified by members of the public,” he stated.

In another case, a 67-year-old woman, who has Nana Sewa and Maame Serwaa on documents found on her was also brought on admission at the hospital on July 15, 2019 at about 12:30 p.m. by a police patrol team which was on duty around the Neoplan Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circe.

DSP Nketia-Yeboah said the woman who could not give any further information about herself had a travelling bag which contained some clothes and a polythene bag with the inscription ‘Ketu South District Hospital Pharmacy Department, Aflao.’

“Items found in the bag were her Voters Identification Card issued by the Electoral Commission of Ghana bearing her name Nana Sewa, photos believed to be her family members and friends.

“There was also an ID card of a young woman with the name Twumasi Konadu Abena from Lome. Besides, other documents found on her suggest that she may be from Lome in Togo. Sadly, she has also passed away and we don’t know any of her relations,” he indicated.

He hinted that all the unclaimed and unidentified bodies would be given a mass burial 21 days from now.

“These incidents keep adding cost to our operations, therefore, I will like to appeal to members of the public who cannot trace the whereabouts of their missing relatives to kindly contact the Pathology Department of the Ghana Police Hospital to verify if any of the bodies are theirs and claim them for a befitting burial.”