Kollam: Two staff of the Taluk Hospital at Kadakkal in the Kollam district were suspended Saturday for handing over a wrong dead body.

The family of Vachikonam native Vamadevan, who passed away on Friday, realised they had received the body of someone else only before cremation.

The hospital authorities blamed the relatives who collected the body for failing to recognise Vamadevan, who had been on ventilator support, before passing.

Vamadevan died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. His body was kept in the mortuary of Taluk Hospital.

An enquiry found a lapse on the part of the hospital. Staff nurse Uma and a grade 2 employee, Renjini, were suspended over the incident.