Industrial-scale mortuaries being sought for mass terror fatalities
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Ministers are secretly scouring the country for mortuaries to take thousands of civilian bodies from a terrorist attack after war breaks out with Iraq.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has appointed one of Britain's leading coroners to spearhead the search for huge temporary mortuaries, such as aircraft hangers. Richard Sturt, who retired as the East Kent Coroner two years ago, is touring the country meeting planning chiefs to assess how they could cope with "mass fatalities".
But emergency planners are criticising the search as too small and too slow to meet the urgency of the threat.
In his 22 years in the job, Mr Sturt became Britain's most experienced coroner in dealing with the aftermath of disasters, presiding over the inquests on the victims of the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987, the Deal bombing in 1989, and a big coach crash on the M2 four years later. He was also in post in 2000 when 58 Chinese immigrants were found dead in the back of a lorry at Dover.
The 63-year-old solicitor - a prominent churchman Christian who has held several senior posts at Canterbury Cathedral - is now about two-thirds of the way through his highly confidential task, and is to report to Mr Blunkett next month.
Mr Sturt's work is being kept secret because civil servants believe that their revelation would create public alarm and strengthen unease about the war, which is expected to increase the risk of terrorist outrages in Britain.
Local authorities began identifying big temporary mortuaries in the 1980s after the Hillsborough and Lockerbie disasters. But experts say that most areas have room for only about 100 to 200 bodies, and ministers now accept that they may have to cope with thousands at a time.
They also accept that a massive explosion could cause widespread dismemberment of bodies and that space will have to be provided for "sorting them out" for burial.
Mr Sturt is identifying aircraft hangers and army drill halls as possible mortuaries. But the impending war and the continuing fire dispute are making his task more difficult.
West London had originally settled on hangers at RAF Northolt, but these are now expected to be needed for the war. Other possible sites are being used by Green Goddess fire engines.
But emergency planners say the Government is moving far too slowly in getting just one man to do the exercise, 18 months after the 11 September attacks. One accused ministers of proceeding with "glacial slowness" and of having "no sense of urgency".
Late last week neither the Home Office nor Mr Sturt would comment on his search. But the Home Office confirmed it was "doing ongoing work on mass fatalities".