A Senior Hospital Chaplain says he is not aware of there being ’33 Muslim bodies in a London hospital which require body bags’.

A message being shared this evening said there had been an urgent request for body bags as the ‘NHS have brought out all the suppliers and they still don’t have enough for all the hospitals’.

It then says that ‘33 Muslim bodies in London are in a mortuary heading for cremation if we don’t find someone to make body bags.’

The message may have been shared with good intentions and was forwarded on WhatsApp this evening.

A message from Shaykh Yunus Dudhwala, Senior Hospital Chaplain at the National Burial Council also shared a message this evening in which he asked people to verify news first.

He says, “I work as a senior Muslim chaplain and am based in London and I am not aware of any case in a London hospital that has thirty plus in their mortuary.

“Body bags are not required for a coronavirus COVID-19 patient who has died so I don’t understand.

“No hospital will ever cremate a Muslim. In the current scenario they are not planning to do so. They changed the law.” 

A statement from Crisis Aid read, "As-salaam ‘alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu Dear Respected Brothers and Sisters Further to the appeal video released earlier today by brother Abdul Qadir from Crisis Aid, we wish to reassure the public that there are no mortuaries in London with 33 Muslim bodies about to be cremated.

"It is unfortunate that our brother Abdul Qadir mentioned this as he believed it was true but had not verified it in the way he should have done. Please accept our sincerest apologies for any discomfort or trouble this may have caused you.

"Finally we like to request everyone to stop forwarding the appeal video and message in the hope to prevent any further spread of misinformation"

The orginal message was shared here on Facebook.