Screams after body blunder

A FUNERAL director has choked back tears while apologising for the trauma he caused two families by placing the wrong bodies in two coffins.

Screams echoed through St Euphemia Greek Orthodox Church in Bankstown, Sydney, after one of the families opened the casket to find the wrong person. Their relative had already been buried by another family during a different service.

Euro Funeral Services principal Spiro Haralambous said it was a complete accident.

“I’m extremely apologetic for what has been inflicted on them (the families),” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

Both families had organised funerals through Euro Funeral Services for two men who had passed away on the same day. Employees had placed the wrong lid on the wrong coffin.

BANKING giant ANZ will close its Sandy Bay branch on April 7.

The nearest branch will now be Hobart, which will be one of nine remaining ANZ branches in Tasmania.

ANZ said the decision was brought on by a shift in customers choosing digital options, with a 10 per cent reduction each year in customer transactions.

Demand in non-branch roles such as customer contact centres had grown.

ANZ’s general manager for Tasmania and Victoria, Cameron Home, said the bank was writing to customers to let them know about alternative banking methods, including online, telephone and mobile banking.

“We remain committed to our customers in the region and will work with them to make this transition as simple as possible,’’ he said.

“Whenever we have to make a tough decision to close any of our branches, we notify customers and let them know about all the alternatives they have available, including specialist teams on the ground in their region that can help them.”

Mr Home said the closure was announced to staff last week.

“We will seek to retain as many staff … as possible who want to stay at ANZ through helping them move into a range of new roles,’’ he said.