Cooling fan cause fire accident at Cape Town’s mortuary

A cooling fan which caught fire has been said to be the cause of a fire accident at the Salt River Mortuary.

The City of Cape Town fire services confirmed this on Friday.

The fire was noticed by a provincial health forensic pathology services official while doing his afternoon fridge checks and inspections on Wednesday afternoon.

A pathology service spokesman, Deanna Bessick said the fire started in one of the walk-in refrigerators.

“At the time of the incident, the fridge in the dissection area was full to capacity with bodies on trolleys and a total of 70 bodies in the fridge. Eleven bodies were in close contact with the fire and the body bags were melted.

“The impact of the melted bags will be evaluated by the pathologists tasked with the evaluation. The facility is currently operational, the section that was affected by smoke has been closed down due to the damage incurred.”

Bessick said 40 officials were on duty, but not all were working in the dissection area, where the fire broke out.

“Fourteen officials were in the affected area at the time. Fortunately, none of them were physically injured, they were, however, emotionally traumatised. The department will ensure that the affected officials will receive the necessary counselling.”

Director of forensic pathology services Vonita Thompson said the damage appeared to be superficial.

“However, we are awaiting an engineering assessment that will reveal the extent of the damage,” Thompson said.

“The staff were very proactive in putting out the fire, therefore, preventing further damage to the fridge and the facility.”