cremation news stories on Newser

In South Korea, Human Ashes Become ... Beads

Mark Russell — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:44:41 CST

South Korea, with its Confucian heritage, has long honored the dead, but these days there's little space for outdoor burials and many people find the thought of stowing a loved-one's ashes in an urn distasteful. That's where a company called Bonhyang comes in: It transforms the ashes of the deceased...

Bad Economy Boosts Cremations Over Burials

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:10:32 CST

The dismal state of the economy has prompted more Americans to choose cremation over traditional burial services to save money, reports the New York Times . Cremations have been steadily rising in popularity since 1985 (41% now vs. 15% then) but the spike has been more pronounced in the last decade....

Guy Tries to Cremate Dog, Sets Fire to House

Tim Karan — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:26:40 CDT

A Virginia man accidentally set fire to his house while trying to cremate his dead dog, reports InsideNova . He reportedly set fire to wood that he placed next to the body of his 11-year-old Rottweiler, and added gasoline to encourage the backyard fire. The intensified flames caused $70,000 worth...

Box Labeled 'Grandma's Urn' Left at Goodwill

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:31:35 CDT

State police in Michigan are trying to find who left what appear to be a grandmother's cremated remains in an urn at a Goodwill near Flint, Michigan. "It's got to be the No. 1 or No. 2 weirdest item" the store has ever received, says the store manager. He says...

Japan Resorts to Mass Graves

Kevin Spak — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:16:05 CDT

Thanks to the earthquake, the Japanese have been forced to do a lot of something they usually avoid at all costs: burying their dead. Japan’s Buddhist traditions dictate that bodies should be cremated, and the ashes stored in family tombs; burial is outright illegal in many places. But with the...

In Greece, Graves Are Only for Rent

Kevin Spak — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 10:49:05 CST

If you’re looking forward to resting in peace someday, try not to kick it in Greece. The country is so drastically short on cemetery space that by law the dead may only rent graves, and then for a maximum of three years, reports Alex Mar of Slate , whose grandparents died...

Cremated Ice-Age Remains Found in Alaska

Matt Cantor — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:20:05 CST

Researchers have discovered the oldest cremated human remains ever unearthed in northern North America, they tell the Anchorage Daily News . The Fairbanks team found the remains of a 3-year-old in an ancient fire pit in central Alaska; they believe the child—only the second ice-age child discovered on the continent—...

At Cuckoo's Nest Facility, 3,500 Forgotten Remains

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:43:22 CST

The remains some 3,500 patients of an Oregon mental hospital used as a stand-in for the sadistic facility in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest have sat in a storage area for years—and officials have published the names of patients who died at the hospital between...

Drug-Seeking Burglars Snort Man, Dog Ashes

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:01:08 CST

Oops. Burglars were so desperate for drugs when they broke into a Florida home that they snorted a powder found in a ceramic urn. But they didn't get even a hint of a buzz because they had inhaled some of the cremated remains of the former man of the house...