From the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" file...Two undertakers fight over corpse
Created: 2007-6-11 15:02:35
Author:Lydia Chen
A SHANGHAI funeral businessman has been charged with assault and causing injuries in a fight with a competitor over the right to bury a corpse, the Labor Daily reported.
The man, surnamed Wang, had been summoned to a hospital by the neighbor of a family of a deceased patient and went there to offer the family funeral services, the report said.
However, Wang became furious when he found that a business foe was already dressing the corpse in the emergency room. The family had not called the business rival, the report said.
Wang ordered his opposition to leave but the man refused, saying his firm had an agreement with the hospital allowing it to handle all the funeral business.
The two began to fight for the body while the dead man's family was still in grief over the death, the report said.
Wang then produced a nunchakus and hit his opponent in the face, which caused light injuries to the upper lip.
Wang was placed under arrest, the report said.
The funeral business is a huge-profit industry in China and complaints are always reported for high prices on cremation, funeral services and cemetery real estate.
In Shanghai, cremation costs range from 380 yuan (US$50) to 600 yuan while the average cost of buying a plot of land for a tomb is about 10,000 yuan.
Funeral business is deadly serious
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