Missing coffins? Hong Kong’s Covid-19 deaths leave funeral agents struggling to meet demand for caskets
- Sharp rise in deaths during fifth wave of Covid-19 has led to stolen caskets, mix-ups, insiders say
- With crematoriums running overtime, funeral workers are working longer hours to meet demand
The family of a 91-year-old man who died of heart failure were shocked to learn hours before his funeral in Hong Kong last Sunday that his coffin could not be found.
With the body still at a private hospital’s mortuary, the funeral agent could not explain what happened to the HK$3,000 casket the family had chosen.
“We don’t know if it was stolen or mistakenly taken away, the agent could not give an answer,” the dead man’s daughter, Irene So, a supervisor of a charity, told the Post.
She said that as soon as her father died more than a fortnight ago, the family fixed a date for the funeral and confirmed with the funeral agent that a casket was available and stored in a warehouse in Hung Hom.
The funeral eventually went ahead as planned after the coffin supplier compensated the family by providing a casket of a better quality.