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AIDS dead could be buried in disused mines
12:50 03 December 02
NewScientist.com news service
Disused mineshafts in Johannesburg could be turned into catacomb-style cemeteries, in a bid by the City Parks agency to accommodate the increasing number of people dying from AIDS.
Officials are also considering alternative disposal methods, such as powdering bodies using liquid nitrogen, as well as mass graves.
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and about 750,000 of its three million citizens are currently infected with HIV. The city's official death rate has increased by 35 percent in the last five years. It reached 19 per 1000 in 2002, largely due to an increase in AIDS-related deaths in young adults.
"This year we will bury about 20,000 people. In 2010, unless someone develops a cure for AIDS, we expect that figure to be 70,000," says Alan Buff, who is responsible for cemeteries at City Parks.
Old gold mines could be converted into underground streets lined with tombs, accessed from ground level by lifts, Buff says. "If it is designed and developed properly, I think people might not mind burying their relatives in these disused mineshafts," he says.
Grave robbers
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Johannesburg City Parks
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Bodies are already buried on top of each other in "family" graves in about half of the city's existing cemeteries. City Parks is also in the process of acquiring an additional 1500 hectares of land to use for new cemeteries.
Meanwhile, illegal cemeteries are appearing around squatter camps on the outskirts of the city. But bodies that are not buried properly can be exposed after heavy rain, posing a health risk to local people. These shallow graves are also easier to rob for body parts used in traditional medicine.
Cremation would help solve space problems in cemeteries, but only six per cent of people who die in Johannesburg choose the procedure. Buff says he hopes freeze-drying might be more popular.
"The body would pass through a tunnel, be exposed to liquid nitrogen and then shattered into ash using ultrasound," he says. "People are afraid of heat, but they might not be as afraid of cold. And there are no emissions from this process - that is the beauty of the system."
Emma Young
newscientist.com |
