Pandeglang, Banten (ANTARA News) - The bodies of a total of 84 people, who died in the Sunda Strait tsunami disaster that struck, Saturday night, (Dec 22), have decomposed at Pandeglang`s Berkah general hospital.

"All bodies have not been identified, thereby making it difficult for their families to recognize (the decomposed bodies)," Raden Dewi Sentani, head of the Pandeglang District Health affairs office, stated on Tuesday.

The Berkah hospital does not have adequate refrigeration facility to preserve such a large number of corpses.

At present, the dead bodies have been stored in a room without cooling facilities, thereby raising the likelihood of decomposition and other associated problems.

Thus, the hospital management has urged the Ministry of Health to provide refrigerated containers to preserve the large number of bodies.

The corpses that have been lying in the hospital for three days will have been discolored, thereby leading to difficulties in identification.

"We propose that the unrecognized remains be photographed, so that their families can identify them," he remarked.

Raden further said if the bodies have been kept for more than a week, they should be buried en masse, as the decomposed corpses can putrefy, thereby cause diseases.

Reporting by Mansyur, Bustanuddin

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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