Coffin alarm to thwart grave robbers
2011-11-23 22:22
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Rome - An Italian luxury funeral accessories company has devised an alarm system for coffins and urns designed to alert police to would-be grave robbers, following several cases of stolen corpses in Italy.
"There is a phobia about kidnapping of bodies," said Paolo Imeri, head of the Art Funeral Italy firm based in the town of Caravaggio in northern Italy.
The Mike system - an acronym for Monitoring Infringement Ksolutions Equipment - works by "registering any theft attempts by checking vibrations."
"The monitoring will be carried out by call-centres in the crematoriums or in funeral homes," he told AFP, adding that the service would cost "between €1 000 and €3 000" for a 12-month subscription.
The company also offers LED-lit gravestones which Imeri said were popular for wealthier clients who had family chapels, as well as ones fitted with digital photo frames and video screens.
Imeri said illuminated gravestones were "a great deal" because clients could save on marble, engraving and candle costs.
- SAPA
