[Shutterstock]
Funeral directors in Thessaloniki have volunteered to bury 25 unclaimed bodies free of charge after some had remained in cold storage for years at the city’s forensic department.
According to Nestoras Nikolopoulos, head of the Association of Funeral Directors and Embalmers of Macedonia, some of the bodies had been kept in refrigeration units for as long as six years.
Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Nikolopoulos said the burials followed months of coordination between forensic authorities, church representatives, cemetery administrations, municipalities and the funeral directors’ association.
“We volunteered to take bodies that had been in refrigerators for many years to their final resting place,” he said.
While individual funeral directors had previously handled isolated cases of unclaimed remains, Nikolopoulos noted that this was the first time the association had collectively undertaken such a large effort.
“It is a shame that bodies remain in refrigerators for a long time,” he added.
Thessaloniki’s forensic service thanked the funeral directors for what it described as “an example of humanity and solidarity,” saying their contribution ensured dignity for the deceased.