Fire Razes Obafemi Awolowo university morgue, burns corpses
Twelve corpses were burnt on Tuesday as an early morning fire razed the morgue of the Anatomy Department of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Folasade Odoro, confirmed the incident.
She said no life was lost to the inferno but 12 corpses kept in a cabin in the morgue were burnt.
Odoro added that detectives from the command were already investigating the cause of the inferno.
The Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said in a statement that 102 bodies were kept in the morgue, adding that the fire was caused by power surge and started around 3am.
According to him, 12 of the corpses were affected, as the timely intervention of the security personnel and men of the fire service unit of the university brought the situation under control.
The statement read in part, “The fire, which broke out around 3am today, Tuesday, November 19, 2019, was caused by electricity surge, which affected a section of the morgue, where corpses were kept. Out of about 102 bodies that were kept in the morgue, 12 were affected by the fire.
“The department has made detailed arrangements to duly and adequately inform those, who kept bodies in the morgue.”
According to Olanrewaju, the Vice-Chancellor, OAU, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, and other principal officers of the institution visited the scene to assess the level of damage and ordered the immediate repair of the affected area.
“The VC has also constituted a three-member committee to look into the immediate and remote causes of the fire,” Olanrewaju added.