A man was found dead in his apartment in Rosmalen on Saturday afternoon. Neighbors raised the alarm because they smelled a pungent smell. The man would have been there for two weeks. What happens after someone is found dead in a home? From the police to the cleaners: we explain it to you.
The police are the first to investigate. “This consists of two parts: examination of the body and examination of the deceased’s surroundings,” the police explained. A forensic doctor examines the body and forensic detectives examine the surrounding area. All try to find out what caused the person’s death.
Once the investigation is complete, a funeral transport company will come to remove the body and take it to a mortuary. Unless there may be a crime. “Then the investigation will turn into a criminal investigation,” the police said. The Netherlands Forensic Institute will then examine the body.
When the body has been removed, the house must be cleaned. The Post Mortem Facilities company specializes in this and cleans places throughout the country where people have died, including in Brabant. “We are available 24/7 and must act appropriately,” says Hans Sinke. He is the coordinator of the company and explains how it works.
“It also happens that moisture has settled in floor concrete.”
“The place is completely cleaned of dirt, corpse fluid, bodily fluids and everything that comes with decomposition. If someone has been there for weeks, there may also be maggots or flies that we have to remove,” says Sinke.
First, the surface on which someone has been lying must be removed. That can be a bed or couch, but also something else. “If it was on the floor, we remove the piece of carpet or laminate. It sometimes happens that moisture has settled in floor concrete. You don’t have to smell that: you will see a stain. We remove that piece of concrete from the ground and later it will be smeared again.”
It is then up to the cleaners to disinfect everything and to remove the smell. “There is often an unpleasant smell. We neutralize that”, explains Sinke. They do this by ventilating the house. “We open everything up so that the room can air out. We spray everything with special stuff.”
“Ostench nuisance must always be cleared up quickly.”
If it took a long time before a deceased person was found, it is a bit more difficult, according to Sinke. “If someone has been lying somewhere for ten weeks, the smell has had ten weeks to penetrate everywhere: from the walls to the wardrobe. You can’t get that smell out of furniture. A house is only one hundred percent odor-free when a home evacuator has been and it is completely empty.”
The question then remains: who is responsible for these costs? According to Sinke, that varies from time to time. “We are called in by the police, relatives or the municipality,” he explains. “In principle, it is paid from the means of the person who has died, through a will for example. If there is not, the next of kin must pay.”
In some cases, the municipality pays. “Sometimes the next of kin are not yet in the picture, but the odor nuisance must always be cleared up quickly. The municipality then advances the money and claims it back from the person responsible. This can be next of kin or the owner of a rental property.” In any case, the job of the cleaning company is done. What happens to a home is up to the next of kin.
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