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Body of French woman lies unclaimed in Kochi hospital

Josiane Marie Alice (70), who was on a tour to India, died of respiratory illness in the Medical Trust Hospital in the wee hours of Sunday.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A private hospital in Kochi is in a fix over the death of a French woman.

Josiane Marie Alice (70), who was on a tour to India, died of respiratory illness in the Medical Trust Hospital in the wee hours of Sunday. The body is kept in the mortuary in absence of any claimants.

The local tour company passed on the responsibility to its counterpart in Delhi, who had sent the guests. Alice came to Kochi from Chennai on April 14 as part of a group from France. She was admitted to the hospital around midnight with complaints of asthma. She died of “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute respiratory failure after a few hours in the hospital,” the medical records said.

According to the local tour operators, they were not aware of the whereabouts of Alice as they were supposed to manage the contingent just for a day in Kochi. The other members of the group, brought to the country by a Delhi-based tour operator, have gone back. Now, the hospital authorities and the tour operators are waiting for instructions from the French authorities. The French consulate in Pondicherry said it was trying to contact Alice’s relatives.

“The French social welfare department is in touch with the hospital authorities. Formalities, including insurance claims have to be sorted before the body is released from the mortuary,” a spokesperson said.

But the hospital is in a quandary. Tour operators,  are not willing to take up the responsibility of sending the body back to France. The tourism department thinks the onus is on the tour operator and the government will intervene if the situation warrants.

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