Three people will receive state burials after no relatives or friends come forward to claim them.

Friday's Government Gazette said state burials would be held for Raymond Balzan, Anthony Borg and Valerie Jean Austin, as their bodies remained unclaimed.

State burials only happen when nobody shows any intention to bury the person within the two-month waiting period.

The Health Department said the funeral would take place 10 days after the notice was published.

A corpse is referred to as unclaimed if no relatives or friends show interest in claiming it for burial or have it transferred to a desired resting place within two months from death.

The passing on of responsibility for these lonesome bodies to the State falls under what is known as the Paupers’ Burial Protocol, legislation dating back to the 1960s, which is still in force today. 

In 2019, Times of Malta had reported that more than 40 corpses were given a so-called pauper’s burial in just over two years after no mourners came forward to organise their funeral.