Mosque car park opens as temporary morgue for Muslim coronavirus victims

Refrigators behind the mosque will hold up to 70 bodies at a time to cope with coronavirus deaths.

A Birmingham mosque has turned its car park into a temporary morgue holding up to 70 bodies at a time.

Trained volunteers will transport the deceased to the Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif and prepare them for burial in accordance with the Islamic faith.

Five specialist refrigerated units were installed in less than two weeks to cope with the increasing number of coronavirus deaths in what is the second-worst hit city after London.

A doctor is currently training more volunteers to join the team, according to the Mosque.

Their tasks have been divided so as to minimise the risk of transmitting the disease, and funeral rites are conducted at the cemetery rather than the mosque to aid social distancing.

Only one or two relatives are allowed into secure sites with the deceased, and lockdown rules mean just half a dozen mourners can attend the cemetery to take part in prayers.

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Saddique Hussain, a 58-year-old funeral director leading the volunteers, told Birmingham Live last week: ‘We will get a phone call to pick up the deceased from the hospital, home or when the NEC hospital is up and running.

‘We will bring them on site, then we will go through the process of preparing them.

‘They will be washed, shrouded and placed in a coffin ready to be taken to the cemetery as soon as possible.

Mr Hussain added: ‘It’s going to be very emotional and stressful. People are dying that no one expected to.’

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