Customs officials at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday discovered a woman's corpse among the hold luggage on a flight from Russia, The Times of Israel news website reported, citing the country's Foreign Ministry.
Esti Zizuva, 80, had been dead for 11 days upon arrival at the airport in a cardboard box wrapped in plastic, the report said.
Israel's ZAKA emergency service within hours located the woman's relatives, who said it had been the woman's will to be buried in Israel.
“They innocently decided to send her for burial,” a ZAKA spokesman was cited as telling Channel 2 television, The Times of Israel reported. “Since they didn’t know the procedures, they decided to send her as baggage.”
Despite the unconventional method, the woman's wish is to be fulfilled: Once the paperwork is completed she will be buried in Ashdod, the report said.
