Prince-Regent Charles : the hard road of the dead to their final rest

For days, Prince Régent Charles Hospital located in the commercial capital Bujumbura has had no place in its morgue for the dead. Families of the deceased are complaining. Sources at this hospital speak of a problem with one of the two mortuaries in the health structure, which has been out of order for almost two months. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to our sources, one of the two mortuaries at Prince Régent Charles Hospital broke down almost two months ago.

“The only one that works cannot have enough places. We always have families that come to look for a place, but it is very difficult to serve them”, say our sources at this hospital.

Several families say they have difficulty “laying bodies of their loved ones at the morgue”. This is the case of an old man who died on Monday while he had been bedridden for days at Prince Régent Charles Hospital.

“His body spent several hours on the bed. Some of my colleagues had to intervene so that the morgue managers found a place. The body was placed next to another in a small place intended for a single corpse”, say hospital workers.

Families of the deceased who confided in SOS Médias Burundi ask managers of this health facility to “find a solution to this problem as soon as possible”.

Hospital officials say they are aware of the situation. They explain it by the fact that “one of the two cold rooms in our hospital is out of order”. The question has been reported to the hierarchy and we hope to find an answer soon, they reassure.

Prince Régent Charles Hospital is one of the major public health structures in Burundi. It started working in 1949 and receives patients from all 18 provinces of the small East African nation.