The Beitbridge District Hospital mortuary in Zimbabwe has re-opened after several weeks of being closed, due to the breakdown of the cooling system, Mirror has established.

The latest development is set to ease the burden on Musina mortuaries, which have of late been overflowing with Zimbabwean corpses, as scores of people from that country had started flocking with their relatives’ corpses to the neighbouring Musina border town.

The chief medical officer for Beitbridge Hospital, Dr Nyasha Masuka, told Mirror that the cooling system was repaired on Saturday, following the clearance of over 50 bodies, which were piled up at the mortuary.

The facility was designed to cater for only six bodies at a given time, but due to the ever-increasing number of unclaimed bodies, the mortuary’s capacity is often exceeded, resulting in its constantly breaking down.

"We have since repaired the cooling system after clearing the bodies, of which 30 were unclaimed, resulting in our giving them paupers’ burials and we hope this will reduce the number of locals flocking to Musina with their relatives’ bodies," he said.

Most of the unclaimed bodies were of ailing border jumpers and illegal immigrants deported from South Africa through the Beitbridge border post.

When Mirror visited the mortuary shortly after its reopening, there were only three bodies on the trays. One of the bodies is suspected to be of a border jumper, who was picked up by local police near the Limpopo River. Criminals operating along the river, commonly known as gumagumas, allegedly murdered the unidentified man as he intended to cross into South Africa illegally.

The temporary closure of the mortuary had resulted in the majority of locals’ resorting to burying their deceased relatives on the same day that they would have died, while the few privileged ones would take their relatives’ bodies to Musina mortuaries.

Due to the deteriorating economic situation in Zimbabwe, the government is failing to maintain public facilities such as hospitals, a move that is now compromising the health delivery system in that country. As a result, Musina hospital is now bearing the brunt as Zimbabwean patients are now streaming into the border town of Musina for treatment, thereby putting a strain on the facilities for the Musina residents.