Elderly woman’s body cremated by mistake after mix-up with identification bracelets in Portimão
A 92-year-old woman who died on August 20 and had expressed her wishes to not be cremated or buried was cremated by mistake in Lisbon after a mix-up at Portimão’s legal medicine office.
According to reports in the national press, Maria Graciete Alvo’s wish was to be placed at the same mausoleum where her children are. However, her body was mistakenly sent to Lisbon and cremated at the Olivais cemetery last Friday.
The mistake is believed to have occurred at Portimão’s legal medicine office during the placement of identification bracelets. The body of another woman, aged 69, was taken to the same office, and the bracelet containing the name and personal details of this other body was placed on Maria Graciete’s, reports Jornal de Notícias.
The error was only detected on Saturday after the Public Prosecutor’s Office authorised the release of Maria Graciete’s body. By that time, the cremation had already taken place.
Contacted by JN, the Algarve Local Health Unit explained that although the legal medicine office facilities operate within Portimão Hospital, it is run under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice.
Meanwhile, an official source from the Ministry of Justice, which oversees the office, declined to provide further information “out of respect for the family.”
The family, which for now has asked to remain anonymous, plans to file a complaint against the legal medicine office, although a source from the Health Regulatory Authority revealed that “so far, no complaint has been identified”.
This is not the first time that a body has been wrongly cremated due to mix-ups at Algarve hospitals.
