A mix-up led to the breaking of a taboo: a Turk († 71) was accidentally cremated at the Medical University in Hanover (D). The man was a Muslim – cremation is strictly forbidden in Islam.
As the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” reported, the body was burned in the crematorium on Friday, December 16. Actually, a deceased († 81) from the Hanover region should have been cremated there. The funeral with the urn took place on Monday – only the wrong deceased was in the urn. According to information from the dpa news agency, the two bodies were confused in early December.
The mistake was only noticed when the alleged corpse of the Turk had to be prepared for burial. “We said goodbye to the wrong person,” quoted the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”, the 81-year-old’s son.
Son discovers wrong body
The mistake was eventually noticed during the preparation of the Muslim funeral. For example, the 71-year-old’s son noticed that the corpse lying on the sink was not his father. “That’s not my father,” he said, according to Turkish news channel NTV.
Numerous Turkish media reports about the swapping of corpses. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also said to have interfered. “Our Consulate General in Hanover is in close contact with the relatives of the deceased in Turkey and his children in Germany,” the ministry said, according to media reports.
Police in Hanover confirmed they were in contact with members of both families. With no indication of an intentional act at this time, no criminal investigation has been considered. The university itself commented on the tragic mix-up of the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”: “The Hanover Medical School deeply regrets the confusion, our sympathy goes out to the bereaved.” (treasure)