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Tags: Sad Travel / Switzerland Travel / Death / Thanatourism / → All Tags

Switzerland Not Neutral On The Issue Of 'Suicide Tourism'

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, Swiss hot chocolate and powdery ski slopes...these are a few of our favorite things. These are also a selection of heart-warming images that usually call to mind thoughts of traveling to Switzerland, and we'd never imagine having to add "assisted suicide" to the list. But alack and alas, it's true that Switzerland allows people to end their lives legally, so long as the decision is "not motivated by their own interests."

As a result of these liberal laws, Swiss towns that usually welcome tourists for things like good chocolate and yodeling have also become destinations for those who check in only to check out permanently. It's a depressing story—excuse us for dampening your Friday morning—but it's a large issue now in Switzerland and Britain as the Swiss seek to put further rules on who can get assisted suicide and CNN points out that many of suicide tourists are British, averaging two per month since 2002.

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Tags: Travel News / Paris Travel / Death / Thanatourism / → All Tags

Vandals Dare To Disturb Paris Catacombs, Awaken Curse?

Just ahead of Halloween, a creepy disturbance shutters one of Paris' most morbid destinations. Now tourists won't have the treat of walking among the 14th-century dead while city officials find the grave-raiser.

A tourist destination dating back to the 19th century, the Paris Catacombs, resting place of French Revolution figures like Georges Danton, contains bones dating back to the 14th century. Some 300,000 visitors a year trek out to the 14th arrondissement to check out the remains of more than 6 million Parisians, until earlier this month when an unknown number of vandals tipped over several stacks of those remains, making the path through the tunnels impassible.

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Tags: Celeb Travel / Death / Thanatourism / Michael Jackson / → All Tags

Three Cemeteries To Visit Now That Michael Jackson Will Rest In (Private) Peace

At least one aspect of Michael Jackson's life will be kept private: The King of Pop will be buried on his birthday at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles—away from the prying eyes of the souvenir-takers.

Although Forest Lawn's Great Mausoleum has been closed for decades, we've rooted out a few places where you can get personal with the famous corpses of your choice. Below, Three Cemeteries Full Of The Famous:

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Tags: Horror On The Hudson / Hudson River / Tragedies / Liberty Tours / Helicopter Tours / Helicopters / Crashes / Death / → All Tags

'Horror On The Hudson' Crash Claims Tourist Lives

On Saturday, just after noon in New York City, yet another crash took place in the Hudson River as a tour helicopter and small airplane collided in the air and then dropped into the river, killing 9 people.

The latest reports indicate that 7 of the 9 bodies have been recovered, along with the fuselage of the crumpled Liberty Tours helicopter and the black box; the small Piper PA-32 plane remains underwater. This tragedy took place near the same spot on the river where US Airways Flight 1549 safely landed after a mid-air bird strike causes it to use the river as a runway. However, that incident was tagged "Miracle On The Hudson" for its incredible story including no loss of life; this last Saturday's accident is instead branded "Horror On The Hudson."

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Tags: Accidents / Bangkok Air / Koh Samui / Crashes / Death / → All Tags

Bangkok Air Plane Crashes Into Control Tower On Resort Island

Note to self: never fly into Thailand's Koh Samui island during heavy tropical rainstorms. Way back in 1990, bad weather caused a Bangkok Air plane to crash into a coconut grove, killing all 37 people on board. Yesterday it was again a Bangkok Air plane that crashed on Koh Samui, but this time the only fatality was the pilot.

The flight, from resort island Krabi to the Koh Samui, another resort island, landed during heavy rains and failed to brake hard enough to stop the plane from skidding into an unused airport control tower.

Onboard were many tourists, including a British couple on their honeymoon who suffered injuries, yet only 7 of the 72 people on board needed to be transported to a hospital for treatment. Although the pilot died, the co-pilot survived with only leg injuries.

Related Stories:
· Life Fears Of Plane Crash Briton [BBC]
· Four Britons Hurt In Fatal Thai Air Crash [Times UK]
· Accidents Coverage [Jaunted]

[Video: ITN]

Tags: Crimes / Cruises / Travel News / Carnival Cruises / Death / → All Tags

Murder At Sea Aboard A Carnival Cruise To Mexico

Where are re-runs of The Love Boat when you most need them? Cruise travelers these days have never had it so difficult, what with the threat of possible Norovirus and Swine Flu outbreaks, not to mention the occasional occurrence of people mysteriously falling overboard. The latest news, that a man has stabbed his wife to death this week while onboard the Carnival ship Elation, doesn't threaten the whole ship but it does make for one creepy cruise.

After sailing away from San Diego for a 5-night cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, ship authorities were called to the couple's cabin to investigate a domestic disturbance. After finding the wife already deceased, the ship announced "gray star"—supposedly crew code for a murder onboard—and placed the woman's body in the ship's morgue and her husband in the brig, or ship's prison.

The murder happened on the final day of the cruise, which makes us sad that the husband didn't find comfort in the wise words of someone like Love Boat bartender Isaac, who always managed to say the right things to make couples iron out their differences and disembark happier than ever. Perhaps the cruise lines put the advice-dispensing bartenders on the newer ships?

Related Stories:
· FBI Investigates Murder On Cruise Ship [NBC San Diego]
· Husband arrested in woman's death aboard cruise ship [LA Times]
· Cruises Coverage [Jaunted]

[Elation Photo: Lisa Andres]

Tags: Tragedies / Yemenia Airlines / Comoros Islands / Death / → All Tags

Yemenia Airlines Plane Crashes Off Comoros; One Survivor Rescued

We don't know about you, but we're tired of hearing about all the deaths in the last month; from the tragedy of Air France Flight 447 to the passing of famous faces like Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and yes, even Billy Mays. Perhaps the world joins us in this exhaustion over bad news, because yesterday night's crash of a Yemenia Airlines flight off the coast of the Comoros Islands hasn't unleashed a media frenzy.

To fill in the details, the Yemenia Airbus 310, originating in Paris, was en route from Yemen's capital Sanaa to Moroni Airport in the Comoros crashed into the ocean after making a first attempt at landing. The crash was so close to the island that it was witnessed from land, and yet a police official admitted "we really have no sea rescue capabilities."

Nearly 4-5 hours later, rescue boats began finding debris from the airliner and bodies of the crash victims. Up until this morning, it was believed that none of the 153 passengers had survived, but then a toddler was pulled from the ocean and taken to a hospital.

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Tags: Breaking News / Continental Airlines / Death / Airplane Hell / → All Tags

Pilot Dies Mid-Flight Aboard Continental Transatlantic Flight 61

Update: The plane has landed safely at Newark. The news is reporting that the pilot died of natural causes; he is 60 years old and has been with Continental for 32 years. Because of the emergency landing, arrivals to JFK, LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Newark will be delayed between 1-2 hours.

Very sad news this morning as we learn of the death of the pilot onboard Continental Airlines Flight 61 from Brussels to Newark.

While details are still hazy, as the Boeing 777 hasn't even landed yet, it is confirmed that control of the plane has been taken over by the first officer, and that there luckily are reserve crew who are helping with this situation.

The flight is expected for an emergency landing at Newark-Liberty, its scheduled destination, within this next half hour. According to the morning news, there is a chance that the passengers onboard are not even aware of their pilot's passing away, but we guess we'll find out in the next 30 minutes. Stay tuned for more updates, or follow our example and anxiously track the flight on FlightStats.

[Photo: caribb]

Tags: True-Blood-Map / True Blood / Louisiana Travel / Death / Thanatourism / Vampire Travel / → All Tags

True Blood Travel Guide: Digging Deep For Voodoo Culture

You've heard of Christmas in July, but we're about to get all Halloween in June this week as we prepare for the debut of the second season of HBO's TrueBlood. Any juicy suggestions or questions? Let us know.

There is more to Louisiana than just New Orleans' French Quarter and southern cooking, and if you look to the Louisiana of True Blood, that means visits to spooky cemeteries in the middle of the night.

If vampire Bill Compton isn't sleeping beneath your feet in the local graveyard, then Tara is undergoing some voodoo rituals in the back corner. A perfect setting for all this is Oakland Cemetery in Shreveport, founded in 1847, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts of a fine creepy history all its own.

Just outside of downtown Shreveport, in Oakland's earth rests the town's old notorious madam, Masons, nephews of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and a whole patch of victims of the yellow fever epidemics. Almost no new graves have been added in the last seventy years and it is believed that "there are nearly as many unmarked graves here as marked ones." On the ones that do still stand, voodoo rituals are not uncommon and visitors will often gifts, like little necklaces, strewn about the area. A question to any potential grave robbers: do you really want stuff associated with voodoo?

Related Stories:
· Oakland Cemetery [Official Site]
· Oakland Cemetery [Haunted LA]
· Louisiana Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: cybertoad]

Tags: D-Day Travel / Normandy / France Travel / Historical Travel / Death / → All Tags

D-Day's 65th Anniversary Invades Normandy With Tourists

It's Thursday, which probably means that you are asking yourself what's going on this weekend. If it were 65 years ago, the answer wouldn't be anything nearly as nice as seeing a movie or sleeping in—it'd be invading the beaches of Normandy.

This Saturday marks the 65th anniversary of that tragic but triumphant day when Allied forces stormed five beach areas of Northern France in order to begin wrestling control of the country away from the Nazis in World War II. Since Normandy sees so much tourism of the historical sites on normal days, we're going to bet that this weekend will be the craziest yet.

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Tags: Thanatourism / Hollywood / Music Travel / Death / → All Tags

Come and See Jim Morrison's Former Garage Door in LA

Tourism of sites related to death, or Thanatourism, is a curious and constantly popular pursuit around the world. Perhaps you've been a thanatourist without realizing it; visiting a Holocaust camp and even Hollywood star maps pinpointed with death locations definitely count. One such new offering also falls underneath the Thantourism banner, and it just happens to be tours of Jim Morrison's last US residence, an apartment in West Hollywood.

For $10 per person, diehard Doors fans can take a self-guided tour of the 6-unit villa estate built in 1932, complete with a brochure of anecdotes from when Jim lived there. Please contain your excitement; the tour only gets better!

Listen to The Doors music played in the courtyard area, "almost as if they were playing in concert there for you once again," and don't forget to pass by a bust of the man himself and snap pictures of "other interesting items such as Jim's former garage door."

If that hasn't yet completely filled you with the presence of Morrison's ghost, then how about buying a "ziplock baggie of dirt" from the property with signed certificate of authenticity? It's $10 as well, but available in limited quantities, so get on that before you miss out on a "shrewd memorabilia investment opportunity."

For more information on the "tour" or to buy things from inside of Jim's old place, check out the building's MySpace page.

Related Stories:
· Cheri Woods Rentals [MySpace]
· Death Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photos: Cheriwoods Rentals]

Tags: Cruises / Travel News / Death / Thanatourism / → All Tags

Do Not Want: The Titanic Memorial Cruise

File this in the annals of Thanatourism: a charter tour company is offering a 12-day transatlantic cruise in April 2012, which will not only commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Titanic tragedy, but will seek to mimic the original passage as closely as possible. Even the ship itself, The Balmoral of Fred Olsen Cruise Line, whose parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic, comes close to the specifics of the ill-fated ship.

While we're aware that there are plenty of Titanic fanatics out there possibly willing to drop £2,595 ($3,776) and up for a berth on the cruise, we hope they realize this will be no vacation; it is more akin to a funeral procession. Carrying the same number of passengers as the Titanic—1,309—and playing the music of and serving meals from the menus of that tragic voyage, The Balmoral cruise is destined to be a mellow affair...or so we'd hope.

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