The Brit collapsed shortly after arriving in Cyprus on September 9, but later pronounced dead. His body then disappeared before making a shocking re-emergence
The body of a Brit tourist who passed away while holidaying abroad suddenly disappeared from the morgue. Shortly after, his body then reappeared, this time under a new name.
The shocking mix-up saw police called after undertakers arrived to collect the body of the man, aged 60. This as they discovered it was missing. The man’s body was found on Wednesday with a photograph showing how it had been labelled with another person’s name.
The Brit collapsed while disembarking at the airport shortly after arriving in Cyprus on September 9. He was taken to Paphos General Hospital on the island but later pronounced dead.
Malfunctioning refrigeration units caused the morgue at Paphos to be closed and his body was moved to Nicosia General Hospital, about 90 miles away.
An autopsy was carried out to try to establish his cause of death before arrangements to transport his remains back to his family in the UK. Staff were unable to locate his body when a funeral director arrived at the Nicosia morgue on Monday to repatriate it.
There were no records showing the body had been moved, raising questions over whether it was moved without following the proper procedures. Police were alerted and an investigation was opened.
A frantic search took place and eventually the missing body was located, under a different name. It is unclear whether body had been moved from the morgue before it was 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 see whether proper processes were followed. The mans cause of death remains under investigation but cops have ruled out any criminal activity.