Bodies at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital are being stored in a refrigerated container at the rear of the premises while the mortuary is being renovated.

Hospital bosses have stressed that corpses are being treated with the utmost respect while the temporary measure is in place ? the result of necessary storage equipment not being delivered.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board began renovating the existing mortuary in June. The renovations will see a significant increase its capacity and the autopsy room will also include new and modern equipment.

In addition, a family waiting room and a separate viewing room will be added, and the new facilities are expected to be ready in January 2006.

A hospital spokeswoman said that the original plan had been to continue to use existing facilities within the mortuary for storage during the renovations, but this hit problems when an essential piece of lifting machinery failed to be delivered.

"Unfortunately, due to this equipment not being delivered, they had to use a container which is in the back of the hospital," she said. "The physician who oversees the mortuary has stressed that they are treating the bodies with the highest degree of respect while the mortuary is in a transition phase."

Explaining that the container had been used for the past three weeks, and that it was unclear how long this situation would continue for, she added: "A rush has been put on getting the lifting equipment."