Grim confusion : a body exchanged between two families at Karusi hospital

SOS Médias Burundi

Ngozi, September 23, 2025 – In Karusi, in Gitega province, central Burundi, an identification error in the morgue of the “Twese Turashoboye” hospital led to a dramatic situation. A family from Muyinga, in Buhumuza province, discovered too late that the body they were supposed to collect had been mistakenly given to another family in Kiremba, in the border province of Butanyerera.

A painful scene unfolded on Monday, September 22. Relatives from the town center of Muyinga district (Buhumuza province) had come to the morgue of Karusi hospital to claim the remains of one of their own. But, after long hours of waiting, the news came : their deceased had already been handed over to another family and taken for burial in Kiremba district (Butanyerera province).

Two women, one family name

Morgue officials explained that two recently deceased women had the same family name in Kirundi. This coincidence, combined with an age difference between the two deceased—one younger, the other older—led to a tragic confusion.
“The body handed over to us was not ours,” a close friend of Muyinga’s family said emotionally.

Exhumation authorized

On Tuesday morning, September 23, Muyinga’s family, accompanied by administration and judicial authorities, began the legal process for exhumation. The objective : to verify the identity of the body buried the day before in Kiremba and repatriate it so that a funeral could be held in their home district.

The hospital admits the mistake

The Karusi hospital management admits confusion, but also emphasizes shared responsibility :
“The family made a mistake and took away a body that wasn’t theirs. The two women had the same Kirundi family name and were both female patients,” the administration stated.

The hospital is now calling for greater vigilance when handing over bodies. “It is necessary to carefully verify identity with the staff in charge to prevent such tragedies from happening again,” it reiterated.

Procedures need strengthening

For the residents of Karusi and surrounding provinces, this incident highlights the limitations of morgue management in the provinces. Several voices are already calling for stricter measures to spare families additional suffering during an already difficult time of grief.