A skating rink inside a shopping center in Madrid was transformed into a temporary morgue on Monday, to deal with the high death toll in the Spanish capital due to the Corona virus, local officials said.
A spokeswoman for the Madrid City Council said that the skating rink in the Palacio de Helo (Snow Palace) shopping center, which can accommodate about 1800 skiers, will be used to "save bodies".
The death toll from the Corona virus in Spain, one of the most affected countries in the world, rose to 2,182 today, Monday, after 462 people died in 24 hours, and more than half of the deaths were recorded in Madrid.
Earlier, the Madrid municipality said that the city's 14 public graves would stop accepting more bodies because the staff there did not have adequate protective equipment.
"Preparations have begun so that the facilities provided by the Ice Palace can receive the bodies and facilitate the work of funeral services in the face of this exceptional situation," the Madrid regional government said in a statement.
"This temporary morgue will be used in the coming hours ... This is an exceptional, temporary measure aimed at alleviating the pain of family members of the victims and the situation facing hospitals in Madrid," she added.
The commercial center is located in the Hortaliza district, north of Madrid, not far from the IFEMA Convention Center, which has been converted into a field hospital for patients with a Corona Virus with a total of 5,500 beds.
Under an agreement between the Madrid regional government and the Ministry of Defense on Friday, the soldiers began helping to transfer the bodies of the dead people of the virus to the morgue.