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The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has completed its investigation into a cremation case at Kwai Chung Crematorium. The findings reaffirmed that the case did not involve cremation of a wrong body or mix-up of coffins, but there was room for improvement in the way the matter had been handled, a department spokesman said today (February 15).
The burial undertaker involved in the case had handled two coffins on the day the incident occurred. The undertaker's staff had wrongly put down the "first name" of another deceased onto the coffin in question. However, the "surname" of the deceased matched with that on the cremation papers.
After getting consent from the applicant for the cremation service, the crematorium staff concerned opened the coffin to check the particulars on the deceased's identification bracelet. Cremation took place only after such confirmation.
When this happened, the body of the other deceased, also handled by the same burial undertaker, was still in a mortuary and later claimed by the family for cremation in a different crematorium. The particulars of this cremation case were confirmed to be correct before cremation took place.
As such, though the burial undertaker in question had handled two coffins on the same day, there was no possibility of cremation of a wrong body or mix-up of coffins as the handling time and locations of the two coffins were entirely different.
"The opening of coffin before cremation then was to ensure that nothing went wrong. The case does not involve misconduct by staff, though there is room for improvement in the way the matter has been handled," the spokesman said.
To prevent recurrence of similar incidents, the department has taken a number of improvement measures, including revising current procedures for cremation and setting out clearer work guidelines. When special circumstances warrant the opening of a coffin, prior approval must be sought from the management and the process must be done in the presence of the family concerned.
"The department has implemented all the improvement measures and strengthened the management of its crematoria," the spokesman said.
On concerns about possible mix-up of cremation ashes under new models of cremators, the spokesman said cremators newly installed at the Kwai Chung and Fu Shan crematoria were of a three-tier structure. The transfer of body or skeletal remains from one level to another was controlled by a computer and closely monitored by staff of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. As such, there was no question of mixing up skeletal remains of different bodies.
On complaints about fire escapes at the Fu Shan crematorium, the spokesman said the facility had met all the fire safety and building requirements, including fire escapes, when it became operational after redevelopment in 2004.
Ends/Thursday, February 15, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:31
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