Commuters at the Novokosino metro station in Moscow were flabbergasted at the sight of two young men carrying a coffin draped in a Crimson cloth this week – not exactly the ideal company during a trip around the city.
In the clip, widely shared in Russia, the men can be seen struggling with the heavy weight of the casket as fellow passengers can only look on in consternation; many questioning whether the pair were indeed ferrying a corpse to its final resting place or if it was some sort of prank.
The men were reportedly asked to leave the station by security though, as with most elements of this utterly bizarre scene, it remains unclear whether the pair of pallbearers had already reached their destination by the time they were confronted by authorities.
“People, of course, may not find it very pleasant when they go to the subway and people come in with a coffin. Especially when passengers do not know what is in there,” Yevgeny Gerasimov, chairman of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Culture and Mass Communications said of the peculiar situation as cited by Moslenta.
I don’t know if it was a need to transport the coffin - or this is such a joke, a challenge to society.
The metro service said in a statement that the men had not broken any rules and had even paid an additional fee of 60 rubles (the cost of a baggage ticket) to transport the bulky item, which is permitted under the metro terms of service.
The men’s car had reportedly broken down on December 1, forcing them to take drastic measures to deliver the coffin, though it remains unclear whether they are undertakers or perhaps making props for the entertainment industry.
This isn’t the first, and won’t be last, bizarre scene to captivate Muscovites travelling on the metro. In November, a woman was spotted with her pet fox perched on her shoulder.
READ MORE: What the fox? Russian woman rides Moscow metro with unusual furry companion (VIDEO)
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