A serious mix-up at a funeral parlour in Hsinchu, Taiwan led to the wrong body being cremated, leaving relatives devastated and triggering a physical altercation with the staff.
According to local media reports, the incident occurred last Thursday (5 Sept), when the body of an elderly woman surnamed Luo was scheduled for cremation in the afternoon.
Instead, her body was mistakenly cremated in the morning, after being confused with that of another woman whose funeral was held earlier in the day.
Source: Google Maps
The morning family, unaware of the error, went ahead with their farewell ceremony and cremation.
When Madam Luo’s family arrived later for their scheduled service, they discovered that the woman in the coffin was not her.
“That is not my grandmother,” her grandson cried out during the final viewing.
The family were then informed that Madam Luo’s body had already been cremated, depriving them of a final chance to say goodbye.
The revelation sparked grief and anger.
Luo’s 28-year-old grandson, surnamed Lin, struck the 58-year-old boss of the funeral company and a 25-year-old female staff member.
Footage from the scene also showed funeral staff restraining family members as the situation grew chaotic.
Source: 自由時報電子報 on YouTube
The woman sustained bruising to her ribs and was taken to the hospital for treatment, and police were called in to de-escalate the confrontation.
Although the injured staff members did not press charges, police said those involved were still referred under the Social Order Maintenance Act for causing bodily harm.
The funeral company later admitted that its staff had failed to follow required procedures to verify the deceased’s identity.
It said it had reached an agreement with Madam Luo’s family on compensation and pledged to strengthen its processes and staff training to prevent similar mistakes.
Industry peers noted that the mishap may have stemmed from wristbands with QR codes — used to confirm the identity of bodies entering and leaving the parlour — being removed too early in the process.
Hsinchu City’s Civil Affairs Department confirmed that the contracted funeral operator had been handling two services on the same day but did not properly verify the identities before proceeding.
The department said it has instructed the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough review and impose penalties on the contractor.
This is not the first time the funeral parlour has come under scrutiny.
In 2023, staff mistakenly thawed the wrong body from cold storage, nearly leading to an autopsy on the wrong person.
Authorities had intended to examine the remains of a 29-year-old Vietnamese worker, but workers placed the body of a 39-year-old Indonesian worker on the autopsy table instead.
The error was caught in time, but the parlour director resigned over the incident.
Also read: S’pore Funeral Home Mixes Up Bodies, Deceased Taoist Man Given Christian Send-Off Instead
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Featured image adapted from United Daily News.