Mourners knew nothing Zurich cemetery fails to find ashes - and buries empty urn
An empty urn was buried at the cemetery in Wetzikon ZH because the ashes of the deceased could not be found. The city administration speaks of an "unfortunate isolated case".
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- An empty urn was inadvertently buried at the Wetzikon ZH cemetery because the ashes of the deceased could not be found, and the relatives were not informed.
- Three months later, the urn unexpectedly reappeared at the crematorium, whereupon the ashes were secretly buried correctly without informing the family.
- The town of Wetzikon has now launched an investigation and admits that it was a mistake not to inform the relatives and to carry out a symbolic burial without their consent.
An unusual incident occurred at the cemetery in Wetzikon: the urn containing the ashes of the deceased was missing from the planned burial.
Instead, an empty urn was buried without the grieving relatives being informed. The city council describes this as an "unfortunate isolated incident".
A mistake with far-reaching consequences
Erwin G.'s urn was to be buried at the Wetzikon cemetery in May. The funeral service was planned in a small circle, but the urn of the deceased could not be found. Normally, the whereabouts of an urn can be easily clarified, as each one has an individual number. But in this case, the new cemetery manager, who had only been in office for a few days, decided to bury an empty urn.
When asked, the town of Wetzikon explained that the decision to carry out a symbolic burial was made without consulting the relatives. They did not want to place any additional burden on the bereaved family. As standard urns are used in Wetzikon, the exchange was not noticed and the funeral service took place as planned, writes the Tages-Anzeiger.
The unexpected return of the urn
Three months later, in August, the urn containing Erwin G.'s ashes suddenly reappeared. It had remained in the Rüti crematorium without anyone noticing. Neither the cemetery team nor the mortician could explain how this misunderstanding had occurred. The president of the crematorium's board of trustees emphasized that all processes had been carried out correctly.
The urn was finally buried in the correct grave at the end of August without the relatives being informed of the incident. The city council was only made aware of the case in October as a result of the editorial team's research.
Consequences and investigation
The town of Wetzikon has launched an administrative investigation to clarify the incident. It acknowledges that the decision to bury an empty urn was wrong and that the relatives should have been involved from the outset. Erwin G. has now found his final resting place, but for those responsible, the matter is not yet closed.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.
