Hangar at airport set up as mortuary for new cases

A HANGAR at Birmingham airport is being converted into a temporary mortuary in preparation for thousands of corpses.

The airport site will be used to store bodies and is situated next door to a temporary hospital for 5,000 coronavirus patients being constructed inside the Birmingham’s NEC.

It was reported that the airport mortuary will provide space for an initial 1,500 bodies but that capacity can be increased.

The death toll in the UK from the coronavirus pandemic rose by 181 to 759 yesterday, the single biggest increase in daily victims since the outbreak. The death toll is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days. Authorities are also building a temporary 5,000bed hospital at the Excel Centre in east London, with two mortuaries attached, and a temporary hospital for 1,000 beds at Manchester’s convention centre. It will also have a mortuary on site.

The military have been drafted in to build the makeshift hospitals and mortuaries.

The Ministry of Defence has established a 20,000-strong Covid Support Force to deal with the crisis, with the majority of troops coming from logistic and medical units of the army’s 101 Logistic Brigade.

A Birmingham airport spokesman said: “Birmingham airport can confirm that it is working with the authorities to provide land and a hangar for a temporary mortuary site at the Elmdon side of Birmingham airport, to support with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lt Gen Tyrone Urch, the head of the Standing Joint Command, said: “My team and I will ensure that they are on task 24/7 across the UK for as long as is necessary to support the Government and our NHS as they respond to this national crisis.”