At least 400 corpses have been burnt in a fire incident at the mortuary section of the General Hospital, Onitsha, Anambra State.
The fire was from bush burning, according to Director of the Anambra State Fire Service, Mr Martin Agbili.
He said firefighters battled to stop the fire from spreading to surrounding buildings.
“We received a distress call from the General Hospital, Onitsha, and we deployed our men and the firefighters’ equipment to put out the fire,” Agbili said.
It was learned that the fire, which lasted about three hours on Saturday, burned down the mortuary building located behind the hospital facility.
Mortuary attendants, it was gathered, attempted to put off the inferno by pouring water mixed with detergent to douse the flame. It, however, escalated, making them call the fire service.
Families who deposited corpses in the mortuary were seen at the razed down mortuary lamenting.
An eyewitness said someone had cleared the bush behind the morgue and set it on fire.
Witnesses said the fire was aggravated by the chemicals used in preserving the corpses.
Mr Agbili said, “We found out that the fire came through the bush and we have been telling people to ensure that they cut the bushes around their houses and avoid bush burning because this harmattan period, fire can come from anywhere, even from a far distance, because every surface is dry and inflammable.”