SOS for Tobago autopsies

According to reports, in early December, Quincy Daniel, Keylon Chapman and Trevaugh Noray died in an accident on the Claude Noel Highway and up until yesterday their bodies remained at the mortuary despite several attempts by relatives to have the autopsies carried out so they could bid their final farewell to the three victims.

Newsday understands the other four cases were persons found dead at their homes or in public places which requires that autopsies be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.

Sources revealed relatives contacted a high official from the Government complaining bitterly about their situation and the matter was then referred to Dillon under whose ministry the Forensic Science Centre falls. Yesterday, Dillon telephoned Alexandrov, who was supposed to be travelling to Tobago at midnight yesterday with his wife Ala and granddaughter, along with other relatives, and asked him if he could facilitate seven autopsies. Alexandrov informed Dillon that under the law he cannot carry out more than 250 autopsies and he had already breached the international standard by performing double that figure. Alexandrov said with the additional autopsies, he was concerned about the breach.

However, due to his sympathy over the grief being experienced by relatives of the dead, Alexandrov agreed to forego his vacation for two days and today he will carry out four autopsies and the other three will be performed tomorrow.

Contacted yesterday, Alexandrov confirmed receiving the SOS from Dillon and said the way a country treats its deceased and the relatives of deceased persons is important and he was willing to put aside his quality time with his family to bring some sort of relief to those who are already grieving.

Alexandrov told Newsday the ministry was considering flying the bodies to Trinidad but one of the bodies is terribly decomposed and there are no encased metal boxes in Tobago to fly a body in that condition to Trinidad.

Additionally, the cost of flying the bodies was also a constraint for some of the relatives who were not in a position to travel to Trinidad.

Checks by Newsday with the Scarborough Hospital administration revealed that relatives of the seven deceased persons have been turning up at the hospital almost on a daily basis since December 13 begging and pleading for the autopsies to be done and when they realised the year was coming to a close with no remedy in sight they decided to use all their resources to have their plight reach the right ears. Newsday also understands the families were informed yesterday that the autopsies will be carried out today and tomorrow which gave them some relief.

In the past, two other pathologists based at the Forensic Science Centre, Dr Hughvon des Vignes and Dr Eastlyn McDonald- Burris as well as Dr Alexandrov would travel to Tobago and carry out autopsies when their expertise was required. It remained unclear why the autopsies were never carried out between December 13 to date.

Yesterday, Alexandrov told Newsday that after giving Dillon the assurance that he would carry out the autopsies, he tried contacting FSC director Annette Lewis to inform her that he would be travelling to Tobago but up until late yesterday, calls to Lewis’ cellphone proved futile.