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'Mass grave' a possibility for victims if flu pandemic strikes civic workers
Mar 31 2006
VICTIMS of a flu pandemic in Croydon could be buried in a mass grave if the illness hits council workers.A report into how the town would deal with a flu pandemic on the scale of the one that struck after the First World War has put the number of potential fatalities at 8,000 - with a quarter of the town's 330,000 population becoming infected.
A report into how the town would deal with a flu pandemic on the scale of the one that struck after the First World War has put the number of potential fatalities at 8,000 - with a quarter of the town's 330,000 population becoming infected.A report drawn up by the council says the number of people dying would increase from 45 to more than 400 a week. At peaks this would mean the crematorium running 24 hours a day to cope and the council employing eight teams of gravediggers.
If the contingency fails, either through excessive staff sickness or through the failure of power supplies, "then the plan falls back on the use of a mass grave," the report says.
It adds: "This will only be used as a last resort as it poses many moral and psychological challenges."
Cllr Paul Smith, cabinet member for public protection and crime reduction, said: "This plan is not intended to scare anyone, quite the reverse. It is about saying we recognise the risk that exists and we are working with other London boroughs to make sure that whatever happens we are there to meet it."
The plan looks at a general flu pandemic but it leaves the council prepared to deal with an out-break if bird flu hit humans.