Queensland Health to investigate hospital mistake that led to Aboriginal elder’s empty coffin being buried

Family left devastated after body of respected Gangalidda elder S Douglas discovered at Doomadgee hospital after funeral

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The Queensland government will launch an investigation to understand how an outback hospital misplaced the body of a respected Aboriginal elder, leading to an empty coffin being buried at the man’s funeral.

Several hundred people attended the funeral of the Gangalidda elder S Douglas in Doomadgee last week, many travelling hundreds of kilometres from other towns in north Queensland.

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