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February 13, 2012
Long waits for funerals cause freezer shortage
Published: 26 Jul 10 12:09 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/27996/20100726/
Sweden has the longest waiting periods in the world from death to burial, resulting in a major space shortage at crematoriums. As a result, a crematorium has been forced to expand the freezers to make more room for the dead.
- Hospital morgue wrestles with rotting corpses (26 Jan 10)
- Oversized coffins complicate cremation (21 Jun 09)
- Swedish town struggles to bury its dead (9 Jan 09)
On average, 23 days elapses before a funeral ceremony takes place for the dead in Sweden. For the 80 percent of Swedes who are cremated, it takes an average of another 64 days before they are buried, according to figures from newspaper Fonus Nyheter.
Last year, a government report proposed setting the maximum time between death and burial at one month instead of the current two months. However, Hansson does not believe this will help significantly.
"They should have embraced this long ago," he said. "The government and Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, must legislate it," he told Norrköpings Tidningar.
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Highlights
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Swedish word of the day
fin
adjective
Fin means anyhting from sweet to proper. When someone says, Du är så fin it's quite a compliment.
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What do you mean by queues?
I don't think that the situation is caused by queues - the article made it clear that it was to do with changes in personal attitudes and choices. It more that there is no culture in Sweden to have a rapid funeral these days - many families prefer to wait a few weeks to find a date that suits all the relatives and pick a time/caterer that they like rather than rush to have a fast funeral.
"Take a number!"
Have some humor please!
When my grandmother died, my relatives allowed some professionals to arrange the funeral. This was in Asia. And it only took a couple of days before she returned to earth. In other cultures people prioritize marriage and funerals. As for Sweden, I hope it's not because people think having vacation on a beach is more important than honoring the memory of a loved one. That's would seem absurdly selfish and uncivilized.
I agree. Is there anything more important than honouring a loved one?
This would never work in NZ where Maori's believe that a body should never be left alone after death until burial. Imagine having the deceased person lying around, having a 23 day wake, waiting for the selfish family to show up. I CAN'T imagine it. When somebody dies in my culture that takes precedence over everything. Full stop. Is this the product of a soulless culture with no beliefs other than hedonism and consumerism? "Sorry Mum, can't make it to Dad's funeral until I've finished furnishing my home with Ikea?"
Your world should and does, in every other country, come to a complete stop when someone close dies. Those days after death need to be a time for mourning and respecting a person you love. It's sickening to think that people would put off something like that because it doesn't fit their schedule.
then again they are dead as David says so there is no hurry they are not going anywhere.
maybe there should be a third option where if they are not taken care of within the week or so then big brother state just takes care of them for you !
from cradle to grave will then be literal!
hmmmm maybe that is the issue, Swedes are so used to big brother caring for them they are waiting around to see what happens.
other than that maybe there is a months worth of red tape to blunder through first!
and red tape is shitty stuff if you are greaving!
I won't care because i'm dead -