The body of a 74-year-old woman who disappeared from a ward at the Kimberley hospital this week was found on the hospital grounds on Thursday, Northern Cape health authorities said.
Shiwe Selao, Northern Cape minister of health, said hospital personnel found the woman’s body, after an extensive search, early on Thursday morning.
”She was discovered to be missing from the ward at 10pm on Wednesday,” Selao said.
She said a hospital search team was immediately deployed to look for the missing patient, but it could not find her. The police were also called to help with the search.
The woman, from Jan Kempdorp, was admitted to the Kimberley hospital on Sunday after she had suffered a severe stroke.
Selao rejected allegations that the woman had fallen from a second-floor balcony at the hospital.
”At this stage, we do not want to speculate as to what has happened, but an internal investigation has been launched,” she said.
A post-mortem will be performed on Friday.
Health officials were still looking for the woman’s next of kin on Thursday.
Police are investigating. — Sapa