Not Enough Caskets for the Iraqi Dead

via the Turkish Zaman Daily:

Coffin makers are unable to keep up with the demand for caskets in Iraq where tens of people die every day due to the continual armed attacks and bombings.

While casket prices increased due to the ever increasing demand, it is impossible to find caskets for the bodies of the poor and homeless. The price of a coffin varies from between $35 and $50 in Bagdat (Baghdad), in a city where one person dies every hour. Caskets have become a major necessity of the country due to the increasing number of deaths. Although around 10 or 15 caskets are constructed per day, they are still not able to supply enough caskets to keep up with demands, say coffin makers, one of them, Abbas Hussein said: "Not everyone in Baghdad has the money to buy a coffin. People have difficulty earning their living, how will they find money for a coffin? Poor people bury their relatives using the coffins that individuals have donated to the mosques."

A Swiss international studies group has claimed that 39,000 of the 100,000 civilian deaths that have occurred are the result of the bombings in Iraq.

Of course, if Faux News picks this story up, John Gibson will crow about how the economy is "booming," and local merchants can't keep up with demand for their goods.