Monday, August 11, 2008 Outer casing of some flatbeds were slightly damaged due to errors in handling
AFTER days of anticipation, the mobile laboratory from Norway finally arrived in Cebu last Saturday night, ready for its conversion into a morgue.
Officials from Normeca, a manufacturer of mobile laboratories and hospitals, started setting up the 16 20-foot flatbed containers that will be converted into the mobile morgue.
Within this facility lies the hope of families that the bodies of over 700 who died when the Princess of the Stars sank will finally be identified.
Officials encountered a minor problem in the early stages of setting up the mobile morgue.
“The forklift operator did not lift the flatbeds through its holes. He lifted under the flatbeds, causing slight damage,” said Ronny Karlsen, Asian regional manager of Normeca.
One of the floors of the flatbeds suffered mild damage as the forklift operator failed to properly lift the cargo off the vessel. As the Normeca crew lifted the flatbeds from the cargo truck, part of the damaged flatbed’s floor fell, along with its foam padding.
“The damage is only on the outer casing,” assured Alvin Santillana of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council.
Karlsen said he will still have to assess the damage once he gets a closer look.
“If the damage is serious, we would have to order from China the needed parts. Hopefully, this will not delay the setting up. If we order today, the needed parts will arrive tomorrow night,” said Karlsen.
“What is really important right now is being able to set up the working line as soon as possible,” said Karlsen.
Karlsen explained that within the mobile morgue, they will set up the six work stations for the disaster victim identification (DVI) teams, wash areas, morgue tables and air-conditioning sets.
Officials started setting up the flatbeds yesterday and hope to finish by Wednesday. They unloaded all 16 20-foot flatbeds and laid them out on the site according to the layout prepared by Interpol.
Once the facilities are standing, water and electricity will be provided to the structure.
“As much as possible, they will try to be finished by Wednesday. The city government will install the lighting and electricity system after they have set everything up.
Once everything is done, the morgue will be on standby until the bodies are retrieved from the vessel,” explained Dr. Rene Cam, medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Government officials suspended the retrieval of bodies in early July, after learning that the Princess of the Stars carried a cargo of pesticides that could harm search parties. A little over 200 bodies have been sent to Cebu so far for identification. Fewer than 60 survived the June 21 accident. (EPB)
