The body of a British tourist who died while on holiday in Cyprus disappeared from a morgue, only to reappear later under a different name. Police were called after undertakers arrived to collect the body of the 60-year-old man and found it missing. The body was located on Wednesday, with a photograph showing it had been labelled with another person's name.
Collapse at the airport
The man collapsed while disembarking at the airport shortly after arriving in Cyprus on September 9. He was taken to Paphos General Hospital but later pronounced dead. Malfunctioning refrigeration units caused the morgue at Paphos to close, and his body was moved to Nicosia General Hospital, about 90 miles away.
An autopsy was carried out to establish the cause of death before arrangements were made to repatriate his remains to his family in the UK. However, staff could not locate his body when a funeral director arrived at the Nicosia morgue on Monday to collect it.
Investigation launched
There were no records showing the body had been moved, raising questions over whether it was moved without following proper procedures. Police were alerted and an investigation was opened. A search eventually located the body under a different name. It remains unclear whether the body had been moved from the morgue before being returned and wrongly labelled, or if it had stayed put the whole time.
This is not the first instance of chaos at morgues across Cyprus. Facilities in Paphos, Limassol and other districts have been out of action, and bodies have been transported to Nicosia. The remaining morgues have faced increased pressure and complex handling and transport issues with the increased number of bodies.
Police are now looking into the incident to determine whether proper processes were followed. The man's cause of death remains under investigation, but criminal activity has been ruled out.
