The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department yesterday denied that its staff had cremated wrong bodies as alleged by one of its employees and a legislator.

Nevertheless, the department promised the family members of a deceased, whose body was allegedly mixed up, to conduct a DNA test. Though the possibility of a mix-up was absolutely remote, the test had to be conducted to satisfy the family, an official said.

The mix-up allegation was levelled by legislator Wong Kwok-hing and a staff of Kwai Chung mortuary, surnamed Li, after the latter claimed to have found an ash-bag and coffin with different names but the same surname, Cheng, on October 20.

The supervisor had the coffin removed beyond the eyes of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras before opening it and replacing the labels. He later ordered the cremation without informing the relatives of the deceased, Li alleged.

The department deputy director Julina Chan said the incident had been blown out of proportion. She issued a statement after meeting Wong yesterday, saying the undertaker had wrongly put the name of one deceased on the coffin of another who shared the same surname.

The family of the deceased was present when the coffin was delivered from funeral parlor to the mortuary, and the mortuary supervisor had identified the body in the presence of undertakers before ordering the cremation, she said.

The incident involved only two names, hence reports that four bodies had been mixed up were baseless, Chan said.

But Wong insisted that four bodies had been mixed up, saying the surnames of the two other deceased, too, were Cheng.

"It's suspected that there could have been more than one such incident on that day, and more bodies were mixed up," he said.

Chan assured him that the department would begin an investigation into the incident. The department had already sent the ashes of the deceased to the government laboratory for tests.

The family members of the deceased demanded a DNA test to verify whether the body they had cremated was that of their relative.

The department has promised to cooperate fully in the matter. But it would be difficult to conduct a DNA test on the ashes, Chan said.

After reviewing the cremation procedures, the department has asked all its staff to ensure that the name tag on the coffin matches with that on the ash-bag and other documents before delivering it to the family members.

Also, family members would need to prove their identity in case of any discrepancy.

The department assistant director's permission would be needed to open a coffin, and it should be opened within the range of the CCTV cameras.