News Update : As more victims are found, embalmers swamped with rotting bodies

18-Dec-11, 4:50 PM | Cong B. Corrales, InterAksyon.com

Rescuers carry the dead body of a boy found in a river bed and a victim of the devastating floods in Cagayan de Oro City in southern island of Midanao on December 18, 2011, a day after Typhoon Washi wrought havoc in the city. Philippine rescuers struggled against mud, fatigue and the stench of death to help the survivors of devastating flash floods that killed more than 650 people. (AFP PHOTO/TED ALJIBE)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--With most parts of this city still without running water and electricity till late Sunday, the funeral parlors where bodies of victims of Saturday’s flashfloods are being delivered face a new challenge besides the sheer congestion: the bodies have started to bloat and show signs of decomposition.

The Bollozos Funeral Homes in barangay Bulua--where most of the flash flood fatalities were brought--is running out of space to lay the dead bodies on, and has been forced to lay them out on a hallway. The stench of the rotting corpses combined with the pungent smell of formaldehyde can be smelled 200 meters from the funeral parlor.

In an interview on Sunday, Bollozos Funeral Homes manager Dexter Lacson said the crisis is aggravated by the fact they are severely undermanned to handle the hundreds of rotting, often mud-covered bodies delivered to them.

“We only have five embalmers and they have been working round-the-clock since the dead bodies started arriving yesterday (Saturday) morning.” He added that no matter how fast or nonstop they work, they simply cannot cope as more bodies are brought in. He surmised it’s because they offer low rates for embalming.

He wondered aloud if it’s possible to just bury bodies directly in order to cut the risk of spreading bacteria.

He said they can only process 10 corpses per day at the maximum of at least four hours per corpse adding: “Even 20 dead bodies in one setting is already a disaster for us.” They have processed 73 fatalities since Saturday, and expect more bodies to arrive as search and retrieval operations enter the third days since Sendong inundated 23 of this city’s 80 barangays.

“Until now, we still do not have running water to wash the dead bodies because most are still covered in mud. We also do not have electricity until now, which means my embalmers are working dead tired with poor lighting,” he said.

Lacson said the Bureau of Fire Protection delivered two firetrucks filled of water but maintains these are not sufficient.

“What we desperately need right now are running water, electricity and additional manpower,” he said.

Another problem, Lacson said, is the shortage of coffins. “So far I have prepared 70 coffins but we lack coffins for children because most of our coffins are for adult corpses,” he said.

Somo Funeral Home in same predicament

Ryan Somo of the family-owned Somo Funeral Homes said, in a phone interview, Sunday, they are experiencing the same predicament Bollozo Funeral Homes is facing.

He said they had to refuse the corpses of two children delivered to their funeral parlor on Sunday morning because they are already swamped as it is.

“We only have four embalmers. We already requested additional embalmers from our branch in Alubijid but they said they could not spare any of their embalmers,” said Somo.

 Both Lacson and Somo are concerned about an impending health hazard as the corpses decompose in their parlors.

Mass burial eyed

For his part, Dr. Joselito Retuya, city epidemiologist and assistant city health officer, said in an interview, Sunday the city government should start considering a “mass burial for the dead bodies to avoid the risk of contamination.”

In a phone interview, city councilor Dante Pajo, chair of the committee on health, supported the suggestion for a mass burial.

“I support the suggestion for a mass burial. We will shoulder the expenses of the burial of the unclaimed bodies. I’m advising the owners of the funeral parlors to coordinate with the City Health Office for the permit so these bodies could be buried and they can also go to our CSWD (City Social Welfare and Development) for financial needs,” said Pajo.

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