ISLAMABAD, May 19: The mortuary of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) has been temporarily closed down for maintenance.

“It was closed on Wednesday and the body of a Chinese woman kept in one of its freezers was shifted to the mortuary of Mother and Child Health Centre (MCHC),” an official of Pims told Dawn .

The Chinese acupuncturist was killed in February this year and since then her body has been kept at the Pims mortuary.

The official added that the mortuary was “fumigated, cleaned and repaired” on Wednesday and Thursday. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official hoped it will start working on Friday (today). “It needed repair as its freezers were not providing proper temperature to bodies.”

Pims has only eight freezers – four at the mortuary of Islamabad Hospital and two each at the Children Hospital and the MCHC. However, the mortuaries of the Children Hospital and MCHC are only used in the cases of emergency.

Last time the Pims mortuary was cleaned, fumigated, and repaired a year ago, the official said. He added that as the major mortuary in the capital, it remains occupied throughout the year, leaving little time for carrying out maintenance.

The hospital staff said the Pims mortuary was working nonstop for the last five months without switching off its freezers and other equipments. They added the freezers` performance was going down.

According to the staff, the Pims administration had requested the police to remove the body of Chinese woman as it has started decomposing and affecting the freezers and its machinery. “We have written to the police to decide about the body but they are keeping mum,” the official said.

Several attempts were made but Pims Executive Director Dr Mehmood Jamal was not available for comments.Dawn