The four-member investigative panel will be headed by Dr Lui Siu-fai, service director of risk management and quality assurance of New Territories East Cluster. The other three members will be Dr Ng Wing-fung of the Hospital Authority's central co-ordinating committee in pathology, Dr Michael Suen Wang-ming, cluster co-ordinator in pathology, and Lucia Li Wai-yuen, the general manager of the New Territories East Cluster.

Hospital Authority chief executive Shane Solomon yesterday apologised to the families involved and said compensation would be offered. 'I'd like to express my personal sorrow for the families of the victims. And I apologise for this pain and discomfort that the families must be experiencing,' he said. 'We have realised the potential for such incidents for some time. What we have done this year is allocate HK$1.5 million to introduce a new electronic system for recognising bodies.'

The public hospitals manage 31 mortuaries providing about 1,500 compartments for bodies. Some compartments have to contain two bodies at once due to high demand. According to the authority, 17 mortuaries have been running at full or above capacity in the past two weeks.

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok said he was sorry for the mix-up, adding it was difficult to relieve congestion at mortuaries. He said the Hospital Authority had renewed mortuary facilities a few years ago, but the government would discuss whether more resources were needed.

He insisted there were no loopholes in body identification procedures. 'This recent incident was mainly due to human error,' he said in Beijing after meeting officials.

Prince of Wales Hospital chief executive Fung Hong blamed overcrowding of mortuaries on limited space and families leaving bodies at mortuaries for a long time, on average 16 days. He said it would take at least four more years for the hospital to expand its mortuary as part of its reconstruction and expansion plan.

The deputy chairman of the Legislative Council's food safety and environmental hygiene panel, Fred Li Wah-ming, said putting two bodies in a compartment was disrespectful. He urged the government to provide more cremation facilities to shorten the time bodies stayed in mortuaries and proposed the panel discuss the problem on Monday.

Sha Tin district councillors will inspect the hospital and its identification system today.

Lee Kwok-wai, who collected his father's body from Prince of Wales Hospital yesterday, thought the identification procedures were sufficient but suggested putting two bodies in one compartment was disrespectful.