crematoriums

6 Stories

'Children Are Being Cremated. Newlyweds Are Being Cremated'

Overwhelmed crematoriums need more space for funeral pyres in India

(Newser) - Wondering how severe the COVID-19 situation is in India? Look to its crematoriums, which the BBC reports are so overloaded that funeral pyres are being erected in city parks whose trees are reportedly being cut to provide more wood for the pyres. The BBC points to the Sarai Kale Khan...

Funeral Home to Nearly 100 Families: Uh, Hello?

Hamilton's Funeral Home in Des Moines is trying to unload people's ashes

(Newser) - An Iowa funeral home is calling on families to pick up the unclaimed cremated remains of nearly 100 people that it has been keeping in a locked closet for years, some since the mid-1990s, the AP reports. Lanae Strovers, of Hamilton's Funeral Home in Des Moines, told TV station...

A Body Was Cremated. Then the Radiation Was Detected

Cancer patient's body contaminated crematorium

(Newser) - Radiation has been found all over a crematorium in Arizona, following the incineration of a man who'd recently received cancer treatment. Though the potential risks of cremating patients treated with "radiopharmaceuticals" have long been known by the medical community, the contamination of an entire facility hasn't been...

Syria Disposing of Thousands of Bodies in Crematorium: US

Assad regime said to have built facility at Sednaya military prison

(Newser) - A Syrian military prison that Amnesty International last year called a "human slaughterhouse" is reported to be executing upward of 50 prisoners daily, and now a US State Department official says President Bashar al-Assad's regime has built and is using a secret crematorium to dispose of the bodies,...

Bad Economy Boosts Cremations Over Burials

They're getting even more popular, with families citing savings

(Newser) - The dismal state of the economy has prompted more Americans to choose cremation over traditional burial services to save money, reports the New York Times . Cremations have been steadily rising in popularity since 1985 (41% now vs. 15% then) but the spike has been more pronounced in the last decade....

Bodies Stack Up in Japan's 'Corpse Hotels'

Bodies have to wait their turn at over-worked crematoriums

(Newser) - Space in Japan is so tight and facilities so crunched that there are even waiting lines for corpses. But they can cool their heels in bizarre new "corpse hotels," where families can visit them until the bodies are turned to ash in overbooked crematoriums, reports Reuters . The death...

6 Stories