Eseka train disaster: Protest held against keeping dead bodies of Muslims in mortuaries ⁰

The Eseka train accident almost took a religious twist following protest from some Muslims families that according to Islam, a corpse should not be kept in a mortuary. Some of the families were heard raising their voices in the morgue at the Yaounde Central Hospital.

One of the Muslim family head violently attacked some of the staffs that were on duty referring to the prohibition of Islam. However, Imam Hamed Bashir of the Biyem-Assi mosque condemned the Muslim families who created the noisy scenes at the Yaounde Central Hospital. The Imam observed that “if the Muslim victims had drowned, died in a plane crash or a natural disaster where it is almost impossible to find traces of the victims, who will they be attacking?”

Imam Bachir Hamed advised that since Cameroon is a secular state, the citizens and the government must first find a compromise with the team that handles any disaster. Imam Bachir Hamed added that in times like this, Muslim families should remain close to the government in order to dialogue and to assist in the identification of victims with dignity and to organize the funerals.

It should be noted Islamic rules stipulates that a deceased person be buried as soon as possible. If the death occurred in the night, the individual is buried before sunrise. If it’s in the morning it is done before sunset.

By Sonne Peter