Saudi to import 25 corpses a year

Saudi Arabia has signed agreements with Germany and China to import 25 dead bodies every year to be used in teaching purposes for medical students at one of its largest universities, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

The King Abdul Aziz University in Riyadh has signed the deals to buy the embalmed corpses for human anatomy lessons before they are buried in non-Muslim cemeteries in the Gulf Kingdom, Sahafaonline paper said.

“The University has signed agreements with several universities and other establishments in Germany and China to buy corpses for anatomy lessons for its medical students,” the paper quoted Dr Abdul Monem Al Hayati, former Head of the Anatomy Section at the University’s medical college, as saying.

“Each corpse is allocated for 15-20 students...after the lessons are completed, the corpses are buried in non-Muslim cemeteries by the Ministry of Interior and the Municipality…these dead bodies are handled with respect and they are buried in line with known international norms without delay.”

Another university official said the corpses are used only for scientific purposes and are buried immediately after the lessons are finished.

“Prices of these corpses depend on that offered by the supplier and the purchasing value of each body…we will import between 20 and 25 corpses a year besides embalmed human organs from China and Germany,” said Dr Hamed Saleh, Undersecretary of the Anatomy Section.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.