“We Knew It Wasn’t Our Child”: Family in Shock After Body Mix-Up at Embu Hospital Mortuary

A tense standoff unfolded at Embu Level Five Hospital mortuary on Monday morning after a grieving family discovered that the body of their child, which they had come to collect for burial, could not be located.

Relatives and friends of one-year-old Lee Delyn Mukundi had gathered at the hospital expecting to pick up the remains ahead of a planned burial at their rural home in Kigumo Village in Runyenjes Constituency.

The child had died about a week earlier, and the family had already prepared for the funeral, including a small coffin suitable for an infant.

However, the situation quickly turned into confusion and frustration when mortuary attendants were unable to produce the body.

Family members demanded an explanation from hospital officials, while mourners who had accompanied them grew increasingly agitated over the unexpected delay.

Tensions escalated as some relatives threatened to stage demonstrations in Embu Town if the matter was not resolved promptly. The emotional atmosphere reflected the distress of a family already mourning the loss of a young child.

It was later revealed that a mix-up had occurred at the mortuary. According to officials, the body the family was searching for had mistakenly been released to another family and had already been buried at a homestead in the Kiamuringa area of Mbeere South.

Speaking to journalists, the child’s father, Kevin Mukundi, described the shock and disbelief the family experienced after inspecting a body that mortuary staff initially presented to them. He said they immediately realised it was not their son.

“When we inspected the body, we knew it was not ours,” he explained. “It was the body of a six-year-old boy, yet our son was only one year old. The body could not even fit into the small coffin we had prepared.”

In search of help, the mourners briefly took their concerns to Embu Police Station, hoping authorities would intervene. 

However, they were referred back to the hospital to allow administrators to address the issue internally, a move that further heightened tensions as the family waited for answers.

Later, Embu County Chief Officer for Health Patrick Mukavi visited the mortuary and confirmed that a mix-up had indeed occurred.

He said the county government had begun the legal process required to exhume the body that had been buried in Kiamuringa so that proper identification could be carried out and the error corrected.

Mukavi also assured the family that the county health department would cover the burial expenses, noting that they had already made funeral preparations before the mistake came to light.

By the time the family left the hospital, they appeared visibly distraught and uncertain about when the matter would finally be resolved.

They said they were now waiting for the county government to complete the necessary procedures so they could give their child a proper and dignified burial.