CAIRO - She sits outside the big mortuary door, tears running down her face, lamenting the death of her nephew, Moustafa, one of the revolution's victims. "I want to bid farewell to Moustafa and this will be the last time I see him," says his auntie, wearing a black abaya, as her nephew's remains are being placed in a van which will take them to the family tomb. You could witness shattering scenes such as this outside the Zeinhom mortuary almost every day throughout 2011. Most of the corpses that enter the mortuary are of people who have died an untimely death, meeting their end in accidents or in the course of violent arguments. But, in 2011, most of the corpses were those of peaceful demonstrators killed by policemen. "The Zeinhom mortuary received 700 corpses more than usual last year," said Magdy Issac, its administrative manager. "Last year, we received nearly 1,700 corpses," he told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. Last year, it is thought that nearly 2,290 revolutionaries were martyred. Many Egyptians refer to 2011 as ‘The Year of the Martyrs'. The year witnessed many violent incidents, starting with the deadly bombing at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria in the first minutes of 2011 and ending with Qasr Al-Aini Street violence in December, with the revolution and the Mohamed Mahmoud Street incident sandwiched between. All of this has caused the Zeinhom mortuary, the only mortuary serving Cairo and Giza, to become something of a landmark. "Due to the insecurity and violence during the revolution, the number of corpses coming here has increased," Issac said. "We were receiving around three corpses per day before the revolution; but, because of the revolution and other incidents, the number jumped to at least to per day.” Last year, many grieving families visited this mortuary looking for children or other relatives lost during the revolution and whom they couldn't find in any hospital. Many families did find their children's corpses in the Zeinhom mortuary, after looking for them for days. "We looked for the body of my son in several hospitals, but eventually found it at Zeinhom," says Omar Bayoumi, his father. "Last month, my son was shot twice and killed, while returning home from an interview in an employment company in Doqqi.” According to Bayoumi, his son was walking across Qasr Al-Nil Bridge near Tahrir Square, when he was shot in the chest and neck. “We can't understand how this happened, as the clashes were some distance from the bridge,” said his father. Some of the bodies the mortuary receives are of people who have no relatives or whose identity has yet to be established by their families. The relatives often identify the body of a loved one from the face or something distinctive on the body, like a scar or a birthmark. Some corpses remain in the refrigerator for months. If no-one claims a body after that, the mortuary applies for a burial permit and then lays the unknown corpse to rest in a charitable graveyard. "We often have to keep corpses in the freezer for several days until all the bureaucratic procedures have been finished," Issac explained. "We can't hand over the corpse to the family until a report has been received from the prosecution. Only then can the family get a burial permit.” According to the Sharia (Islamic Law), a corpse has to be buried as soon as possible. "We witness many violations, for example grieving families are usually in a hurry to take the corpses of their loved ones. But we try to deal calmly with these problems," Issac stressed. "Due to the security vacuum when the police fled, we had to control the crowds on our own.” As he goes to work every day, Issac, who's been doing this job for years, can expect to see the same thing again and again. It may be heartbreaking for many, but he has to get on with his job. “The corpses arrive by ambulance. There follows an autopsy, after which the burial permit is issued,” he added, explaining that the mortuary's services are free, but the washing of the body and the coffin have to be paid for. "The Moghasel [who washes the corpse, according to Islamic rituals, before it is buried] pays a token rent for the place he uses in the mortuary.” Issac hopes that, when security returns, there will be fewer murders; he doesn't want to see any more bodies of revolutionaries.
