Bodies of two Covid-19 victims were located a year after their deaths in the mortuary of the ESI hospital in Bengaluru.
Rajajinagar police said the victims have been identified as Durga and Muniraju.
A senior police officer said the bodies were kept in the cold storage of the mortuary a year ago and a new mortuary building had started functioning in the meantime. “On Saturday, when the housekeeping staff went to clean the old mortuary, they sensed a foul smell and later discovered these two bodies,” he said.
The police have shifted the bodies to the Victoria hospital for autopsy and are trying to trace the family members of the deceased.
The police officer said the hospital staff told them that the family members of many victims hesitated in collecting the bodies. “These two bodies remained in the freezer as the hospital staff got busy dealing with too many Covid-19 cases in successive months,” the officer added.
He said the family members of the deceased will be traced by Monday and the bodies will be cremated after receiving their permission. “The two deaths might have occurred in October last year but we are awaiting confirmation from the hospital,” the officer said.