cemetery - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Mother’s voicemail at her graveside marks painful Ramadan for Gaza son

MARKING the first day of Ramadan alone among the graves of his loved ones at a cemetery in Gaza, Ibrahim Hassouna listened to a voicemail message his mother left him before she was killed in Israel's military offensive on the Palestinian territory. Normally a time of religious devotion and joyful family meals after each day's fasting, this year's Muslim holy month could not lift Hassouna from his deep sorrow at the loss of his mother, father, brothers and their families in the war. Listening to his mother's voice on his phone was bittersweet, bringing back memories of how she used to fret…

Oct

2023

By THOMAS HOLDSTOCK and HEDY BELOUCIF

Child padlocked in Polish grave reflects ancient supernatural beliefs

WORLD

ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Poland have uncovered the remains of a 17th-century child padlocked to his grave to stop him from rising from the dead, a discovery that turns the spotlight on beliefs in vampires as Halloween approaches. The bones of the six- or seven-year-old are the most recent find in a cemetery in the northern village of Pien dating from an era that viewed ghosts, zombies and other supernatural apparitions as more than merely fancy dress options. "This is a cemetery for rejected people, who were certainly feared after death, and perhaps also during life ... who were suspected of having…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Turkish undertaker’s family move to cemetery as he buries earthquake dead

WORLD

SUSANA VERA TASKED with burying hundreds of victims of Turkey's massive earthquakes, undertaker Ali Dogru brought his wife and four sons to live in an old bus by the cemetery where he works in the city of Iskenderun, so he could know they were safe. Last month's devastating earthquakes killed more than 54,000 people in Turkey and Syria and left millions homeless. Survivors are sheltering in tents, container homes, hotel resorts, university dormitories and even train carriages after hundreds of thousands of buildings collapsed and others were left unsafe. Shortly after the first earthquake struck on February 6, Ali, 46, moved his…