Muslim burials in Europe strained by virus lockdowns abroad

ZUIDLAREN, Netherlands (AP) — As measures to stem the spread of the virus ground flights and close borders around the world, it is not only the living whose travels are being curtailed. For many Muslims in Europe, even if the coronavirus does not end their lives, it can affect their deaths. That’s because their bodies cannot be flown home for burial in the places they were born. A newly opened cemetery in the Netherlands is offering graves facing Mecca for Muslims who can’t be flown home for burial. One family used that for their matriarch, and the grandson said the family is at peace with the burial.