Shock as a body in a coffin is dumped outside a hospital
Residents of Lumumba and Ondiek estates in Kisumu City were on Thursday treated to a bizarre incident after a coffin with a corpse was dumped outside Lumumba Sub-County Hospital.
According to eyewitnesses, three people offloaded the body from a pick-up before placing it on a wooden stand near the entrance of the Hospital.
The bodaboda riders said they thought the coffin had been placed there to wait for clearance to collect a body from the nearby Star Hospital Mortuary.
Curiosity, however, made the riders to open the coffin seeing many hours had passed and no one had picked it.
“After staying there for hours we moved closer to it and discovered that it had a body,” said Vincent Odhiambo, a boda boda, operator who witnessed the incident.
Joseph Owino, who was at the scene at 9.00 am, said the individuals who dropped the coffin claimed that the vehicle had mechanical problems and they were rushing to get it fixed first before proceeding with their journey.
The incident attracted a crowd, bringing services at the Hospital to a standstill as police officers moved in to control the situation.
At around 2.00 pm when police officers from Kisumu East were almost taking the casket away, two men rushed to the scene and claimed the deceased was their relative.
The duo who were allowed to take the coffin, were instructed to first record statements with the police.
It is suspected that the bereaved family did not want to bury their deceased within the two hours as directed by the County Health officials.
“It has become increasingly difficult to adhere to the Covid -19 regulations on burials. That is why I suspect they were buying time so that they take the body home after 3 pm to stay there overnight for burial tomorrow,” said Jerry Ojwang who witnessed the incident.
