Funeral casket found on the street creates neighborhood mystery

A bright red funeral casket left on the street caused a bit of a stir among residents of Rembrandtstraat in Zwijndrecht this week. It turned out to be a discarded “practice coffin” for a local coffin bearer group, Rijnmond reports.

Ada Nelisse, who lives in Rembrandtstraat, started the bearer group in 2017. She got the bright red casket to practice with. When she no longer needed it, she stored it on top of a cupboard for a long time.

But the cupboard recently needed replacing, so the coffin had to go. Nelisse called the Zwijndrecht waste processing company, who asked her to send pictures. The waste company said she could put the coffin on the street side, and they would pick it up.

Nelisse did just that on Tuesday morning, not realizing the stir it would cause. “Actually, we thought it was kind of funny,” she confessed to Rijnmond. “Death used to be scary, but that is becoming less and less. People used to stand with folded hands when a hears passed by. That is different now.”

According to Nelisse, most of her neighbors could see the joke now that the mystery is solved.

Eind goed, al goed: sneller dan verwacht is het doodskistmysterie in Zwijndrecht tóch opgelost. https://t.co/i9Ylp5LLsp

— Rijnmond (@RTV_Rijnmond) January 26, 2023