Madrid ice rink turned into morgue due to coronavirus

France24 ^ | March 23, 2020

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Madrid (AFP) - An ice rink inside a Madrid shopping mall was on Monday turned into a temporary morgue to deal with a surge in deaths in the Spanish capital due to the coronavirus, local officials said.

The ice rink at the Palacio de Hielo, or Ice Palace, shopping centre -- which according to its web page has the capacity for 1,800 skaters -- will be used "to store bodies", a spokeswoman for Madrid city hall told AFP.

The coronavirus death toll in Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in the world, surged to 2,182 on Monday after 462 people died within 24 hours. The Madrid region accounts from over half of the deaths so far.

Earlier on Monday Madrid city hall said the city's 14 public cemeteries would cease to accept more bodies because staff there did not have adequate protective gear.

"Preparations have begun so that the installations ceded by the Ice Palace can receive bodies, and facilitate the work of funeral services in the face of this exceptional situation," the regional government of Madrid said in a statement.

This improvised morgue will start being used "in the coming hours," it added.

"This is a temporary and exceptional measure which aims to mitigate the pain of the family members of the victims and the situation hospitals in Madrid are facing."

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[entropy12]

Smart move. Will not need additional ice to keep body stable.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wow, you know it’s bad when you ice rink is turned into a morgue.

[dp0622]

So are people going to be allowed to skate or is that out?

[chris37]

This is all perfectly normal. Nothing at all to see here.

#NotABioWeapon

[DIRTYSECRET]

What to do with all those useless cruise ships? The customers aren’t coming back when this is over.

[Tea Party Terrorist]

Spain has single-payer, this cannot be true.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I don’t think you want to crash into a virus-riddled stiff.

[V_TWIN]

A tragically clever idea.

[entropy12]

Only if you can make quick turns to avoid the bodies.

[gathersnomoss]

If there is a limit of 10 or less humans in an establishment, do cadavers count?

[entropy12]

We know some one who was on a cruise ship in Pacific ocean and said only about 1/4 of the ship was full.

[chris37]

We could put congress on one!

[chris37]

Clearly fake news then.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Wow, you know it’s bad when you ice rink is turned into a morgue.

And the Philadelphia Flyers aren't even involved.

[dp0622]

And here I thought I was going to be chastised for being so cold and unfeeling.

I should have known better :)

[bleach]

That’ll test the zamboni driver’s skills.

[DivineMomentsOfTruth]

For all those who say it’s just the flu.. Why don’t countries need temporary morgues during flu season? Because this is not the flu.. It is a vicious virus sweeping the world causing health care systems to be Overwhelmed. Get it now?

[dfwgator]

Wow, you know it’s bad when you ice rink is turned into a morgue. And the Philadelphia Flyers aren't even involved.

"Dave's a Killer!"
"Dave's a Mess!"

[moovova]

Gonna make it hard to skate...unless your working on your jumps.