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Ask HN: Procedure to fly a coffin from US to India

1 points by webtechgal ↗ HN
A cousin's son who was a CS student at Virginia Tech suddenly passed away a few hours ago.

EMS declared him deceased at his place of residence; the police have now taken over and said they can't divulge any information until their investigations are completed.

My cousin is inconsolable and she just wants to see her son one last time; she is not fit to travel to the US anytime soon. Under the circumstances, our only option is to try and fly the coffin to India.

We have family in the US who are all standing by for the police procedure to be completed and in the meanwhile, we are all trying to find out how to bring the coffin to India ASAP.

Any specific info and/or relevant links would be highly appreciated.

5 comments

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hourislate
I don't know what his custom is? Are they Hindu and get cremated or are they Christian and are buried? Because I am pretty sure for the body to travel it will need to be embalmed. You should be able to contact an Airline (Air India?) and arrange transport once the remains have gone through the process. This isn't cheap and can cost quite a bit.

http://www.airindia.in/cargo-type.htm

Sentimental Shipments

We understand how traumatic it is to lose a dear one. That’s why we make sure the mortal remains of the deceased are always carried with utmost care and concern.

Besides passport of the deceased, the following documents are required for carriage of sentimental cargo:

    Death Certificate from a competent medical authority
Embalming and Packaging Certificate, Certificate issued by Embassy (Nationality of deceased) with the deceased’s full name, age at the time of death, place of death and photocopy of passport details. Photocopy of cancelled passport,Police certificate.

It is necessary that the above documents are made in English, otherwise the same should be translated in English.

webtechgal
Thanks for the info and the link. We are more in need of guidance with the US government/medical/police procedures at this point (i.e. pre airline/cargo).
hourislate
This is typically the way it goes.

Since the deceased is so young the police will need to have a small investigation to rule out foul play. The body will be transferred to a hospital morgue where an autopsy will be preformed to determine cause of death. Once everything clears someone will need to claim the body (family or someone acting on the families behalf). You will need to contact a funeral home for embalming and preparing the deceased for travel (if the family wants him back in India).

There is really nothing for you to do until the Police/autopsy is finished and the cause of death is determined. You may want to let the Police know and Morgue know who the contact for the deceased should be.

webtechgal
Thanks again. Any idea (even an approximate one) how long is it likely to take before we get possession of the body?
hourislate
I would think a few days 3-5 days if his death was due to natural causes (aneurysm, heart failure, etc.)