Corpse was still alive at airport, wife says (Reuters)

Reuters - A German woman arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle a corpse onto a plane says her husband was still alive when they reached Liverpool airport.---...More

Women arrested in UK for taking corpse onto plane

LONDON (AP) -- Police have arrested two women at an British airport after they reportedly tried to smuggle a corpse onto a flight.More

Crazy News-Cash-for-corpse murders probed in China

Crazy News-Cash-for-corpse murders probed in China

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese police have arrested members of a gang suspected of murdering more than 100 disabled or elderly people and selling their corpses in a bizarre scheme to avoid cremations, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Burials have traditionally been seen as the most respectful way to handle the dead in China, but were discouraged after the Communists came to power in 1949 to conserve farmland and eradicate superstition.

The bodies were bought by wealthy families and sent for cremation in lieu of deceased relatives who were then secretly buried, the South China Morning Post reported.

The killers would trail their victims, usually mentally disabled or elderly people, "drag them into vehicles in remote areas and either strangle or poison them", the newspaper said.

An unnamed police officer from Puning, in southern Guangdong province, said about seven suspects were arrested three weeks ago when police discovered the gang while investigating a homicide, the Post said.

Corpses would sell for 10,000 yuan (818 pounds) each, it said, without specifying the charges against those being held.

(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Stupid News-Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake

Stupid News-Puerto Rico corpse kept upright for 3-day wake

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing — even in death.

A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.

Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."

The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish.

Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating.
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