The hospital administrator Tim Jones said they are trying to trace the relatives of the deceased, which is a long process. He said after the missions have been contacted, they have to write to Foreign Affairs offices in their respective countries. Once the concerned countries have been notified, he said, more work is undertaken to trace relatives.
“It is difficult to trace these people, but we are making some efforts,” Jones said.
He said involving the police means the hospital must supply dental records and other relevant data of the dead person. However, when the deceased are local people, it does not take a long time to trace their relatives. This is due to the fact that locals always report missing relatives to the police.
He added that they only face difficulties when the dead person is a foreigner. “In the old days, we used to identify people by their tribal marks but it is difficult right now,” he said.
He added that foreigners from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia have in the past identified their dead relatives in Botswana. The police and embassies have become helpful in tracing the relatives of the unidentified dead people.
Jones said most of the unclaimed corpses are of people found dead by the police. “They did not die at the hospital because when we admit patients, we try to establish their identities. But those who have not been identified were found dead by the police in different places especially in the bush,” he said.
Jones said if the corpses have not been claimed after six months, the hospital buries them.
“We are expecting some results any time. We are expecting some reports from our Social Welfare Department. But if the deceased’s relatives do not show up, we will have to bury them,” he said.
This year, he said, they have buried about seven unclaimed corpses. But Marina has not encountered a major crisis like in Francistown where 12 unclaimed corpses were buried at one time.
After burying a corpse, the hospital keeps a file about the deceased and photographs for future reference. The records, he said, become helpful when somebody is looking for a missing relative. “We also mark the graves and write the names of the deceased if he was known,” said Jones, stressing that the unclaimed corpses are given a dignified funeral.
