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Lille man found dead in bed after 15 years

Authorities in the town of Lille have found the body of a man who had been dead for 15 years in his home.

Published: 22 October 2012 10:39 CEST

Police say the body was in a skeletal state and dressed in pyjamas in bed, when it was found on Friday morning, reported newspaper La Voix du Nord.

The man, born in 1921, was the owner of the house situated in the chic area of Lille, Vieux-Lille, and thought to be originally from Spain.

A member of the local council’s health service discovered the body after attempting to inform the owner of the house of construction work.

The construction had been ordered by the local council because the house was in an “insalubrious” state.

Didier Perroudon, director of the regional security department, said: “We have launched an inquest. Given this man could disappear without anyone worrying for 15 years, we will need some time to find out where he came from, what he did, and where his relatives could be.”

At the door of the house, post dating as far back as 1996 was found, giving the authorities some indication of how long the body had gone undiscovered.

For now, Lille police are not treating the death as suspicious.

“On the face of it, the state of the house leads us to believe this was a peaceful death of someone who just died in their bed," Perroudon added.

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ELDERLY

Spain’s prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death

Spanish prosecutors said Tuesday they have filed a criminal complaint against a Madrid care home doctor and its director over the Covid-related death of a resident, in the first such case in the capital region since the start of the pandemic

Published: 15 December 2020 15:49 CET
Spain's prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death
Photo: AFP

Madrid's public prosecutor's office said the two women are suspected of manslaughter and denial of medical attention in relation to the death in March of a woman in her 80s who had just moved into the home.   

Madrid was one of the hardest-hit cities in Europe by the first wave of the pandemic, and the complaint is expected to be one of several alleging inadequate care at retirement homes during the period.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said the doctor and the director of the home, who were not named, did not follow the protocol set up by the Madrid regional government for caring for residents during the pandemic.

The doctor “disregarded” the protocol and did not call a hospital about the woman, despite her worsening condition, until eight days after she began having breathing trouble.

“Despite her rapid transfer to hospital, she died the following day from cardiac arrest,” the statement said.

The care home's director “was aware of the patient's clinical situation (but) did nothing” to ensure she received health care during periods when the doctor was absent, notably on the weekend before her death, it added.   

Amnesty International warned earlier this month that conditions at elderly care homes in the Madrid region and in Catalonia remained “alarming” despite improvements.

In a sharply worded report, it said the “vast majority” of residents had not been properly cared for during the pandemic.

The measures put in place by both regions were “inefficient and inadequate” and violated the residents' rights, it said.   

Spain has been one of Europe's worst-hit countries, with the virus infecting more than 1.7 million people and causing over 48,000 deaths.

Close to half of that number are believed to be elderly people who died in homes, Amnesty said.

At the height of the first wave in March, Spanish soldiers helping to fight the pandemic found elderly patients in retirement homes abandoned and, in some cases, dead in their beds.

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