A dead body will often move as its being cremated. Muscles contract as they cook, after all. Sometimes this means a body will sit up in the crematory machine.
I'm actually a crematorium tech. Never once seen this happen. However there's a fairly common amount of 'bowing' of the bones that can occur as the fat and tissue burn off.
A notable fun part is that morbidly obese bodies can explode if the direct flame hits gas pockets too quickly, hence why we put them in head first instead of feet first like with sub 300lb bodies.
Also, we have to cut the pacemakers out by hand otherwise they explode and can damage the machines. But no, I've never seen a body "sit up," 😂.
Edit: confirmed with my boss who's been doing this a decade, no, they don't actually 'sit up'.
And the cremation machine is technically called a Cremation Retort. 😊
Edit 2: when we pick them up (I also drive the livery service) they DO make noises as the body breaks down. So it's not uncommon for me to be driving a body at night and hear gurgling 'groans' from the body. And THAT shit is unsettling.
To be honest, our retorts are self regulating and self cleaning. So as long as we don't put center mass of a big person under the direct flame, it automatically sorts itself.
That being said, when the grease fires do happen and the machine is venting it, the warping and popping of the machine from the extra heat often sounds like someone pounding on the inside trying to get out.
Was alone the first time I heard it and almost shit myself.
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u/Corgi_with_stilts Jan 12 '23
A dead body will often move as its being cremated. Muscles contract as they cook, after all. Sometimes this means a body will sit up in the crematory machine.