The body of a Bangladeshi worker was left to decompose at a private hospital in Jeddah of Saudi Arabia as the medical bill for his treatment remained unpaid.
The deceased was identified as Abul Hussein Noor Zaman, 42, who worked for the National Water Company.
Muhammad Saraah, brother of the deceased, refused to accept the body and complained to the Saudi Health Ministry, the Saudi Gazette reports.
The body decomposed after being left in the morgue of the hospital for 10 days.
Saraah said: “My brother was diagnosed with a strange disease and was admitted to a private hospital two months ago. Several symptoms appeared, but he was wrongly diagnosed.”
Saraah claimed that his brother had been finally diagnosed with AIDS and died on June 11.
He blamed the hospital for neglecting the patient and refusing to hand over the body until the bills due had been paid, Kuwait-based Al-Watan daily reported.
Saraah said: “My brother had a medical insurance, which allowed medical expenses of up to 30,000 Saudi riyal. His treatment, including medicines, tests and check-ups, did not exceed 17,000 riyal.”
Saraah said the hospital had asked for SR5,000 for the release of the body.
When colleagues of Abul Hussein Noor Zaman found out about the incident they informed Jeddah Health Affairs Director Dr Sami Badawood. The health affairs director is believed to have only issued an order to all private hospitals to refurbish morgues without issuing any direct directives for Zaman’s case.
Saraah filed a complaint at the Ministry of Health on June 24 and directives were issued to send the body to Bangladesh.
When a vehicle to transport the body arrived paramedics refused to take the body as it had mostly decomposed.
The forensic medicine department issued a report, saying the whole body had decomposed and nearly 70% of it had been lost due to insufficient cooling at the morgue and lack of monitoring by morgue technicians, Saraah said.