A Forensic Staff of the National Hospital Guido Valadares (HNGV) said five corpses were left abandoned during the Christmas and New Year holiday season inside the mortuary because the attending doctor took her annual leave to go back to Cuba.
She added during the holiday season the national hospital’s forensic unit received seven deceased bodies – five Timorese, one from the Philippines and another the body of an American national.
The corpses of the two foreigners were sent home because they died of natural causes.
The five Timorese corpses could not be released because they are part of on-going homicide investigations.
“The five corpses are yet to be autopsied because the Cuban doctor is on vacation abroad,” added the forensic officer at HNGV, in Bidau, Dili.
She said also despite there being Timorese two doctors trained in forensics they were not allowed to discharge the bodies because they have not yet specialized in the field.
Meanwhile HNGV’s Administrator, Francisco Pereira do Rego, acknowledged the bodies were in fact at the mortuary and said the hospital would contact the Cuban Brigade representatives about the situation.
“I don’t know when she will return because she took her annual leave but we will get in touch with the brigade,” said Administrator Rego.
He urged the Ministry of Health to prioritize the specialization of the two Timorese doctors in forensics so the hospital stops relying on doctors from other nations.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Sergio da Costa Lobo, declined to comment on this matter.
