Correctional authorities cremate virus victim without notifying family
A staff member wearing protective gear stands in front of a vehicle at Seoul Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa District, Seoul, Tuesday, when a sixth mass round of COVID-19 testing was conducted among correctional officers and detainees. / YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Prison authorities, who have already been criticized for lax management resulting in mass COVID-19 infections at a prison, are under fire again as they allegedly cremated the body of an inmate who died as a result of infection by the coronavirus without notifying his immediate next of kin, according to the deceased's family, Tuesday.The Seoul Dongbu Detention Center, currently struggling with massive infection outbreak, had recently reported the first death of an inmate, Yoon Chang-yeol, 66, who had been serving out a four-and-a-half year jail sentence for fraud since 2018. According to the center, the inmate tested positive with the virus Dec. 23. After a court ordered medical parole, he was transferred to a hospital for treatment the next day, but died Dec. 27. He reportedly had an underlying disease, and had been receiving h
Jan 5, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin