Dead and forgotten – hundreds die alone and unclaimed


'Most of the bodies or the skeletal remains were males, and between 70% and 80% of them are believed to be foreigners.' - Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood

EXCLUSIVE: KUALA LUMPUR: Every year, a few hundred people die as unknown persons. Just last year, 531 bodies were not claimed, according to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Its director Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood said most of them were found dead in public areas such as five-foot ways, rented rooms or houses, bushes, lakes and rivers, and also on roads due to traffic accidents.

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