Fury as 'up to 300 urns containing human remains from Dignitas suicide clinic are found at bottom of Lake Zurich'



Scores of urns containing human ashes have been found dumped in a lake near the Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas.

One estimate puts the number discovered 30ft down on the bed of Lake Zurich at 300 or more.

The urns bear the logo of a cremation service thought to be used by Dignitas, the controversial organisation where more than 100 Britons have ended their lives.



The cremation urns, dumped illegally, which were found by police divers in Lake Zurich. It is alleged the urns come from euthanasia clinic Dignitas

It is not known if the remains of any British 'suicide tourists' are involved, and last night Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli refused to comment.

It is against Swiss law to dispose of a large number of urns without a commercial licence. The crime carries a jail sentence of up to three years and a £30,000 fine.



The urns were discovered by chance when divers from a rescue service were looking for a lost sunshade from one of their boats.

Police divers recovering urns containing human ashes from Lake Zurich. They only came across them when they began looking for a sunshade which come off one of their boats

The Dignitas Clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, where numerous Britons have ended their lives due to the country's liberal assisted suicide laws. The city is at the north-west end of the lake

After retrieving 13 urns they notified the Environment Agency and police divers were called in.

One said: 'After 50 we stopped counting. They lay there in a big heap.'



Environment Agency spokesman Wolfgang Bollack said: 'We have filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons for disturbance of the dead.

'The retrieved urns are being kept in a place respecting their dignity.'

Former Dignitas employee Soraya Wernli, 52, estimated that there were at least 300 urns lying at the bottom of the lake. She said: 'Around one in three urns end up in Lake Zurich. At first Minelli put the urns there himself but later asked his daughter and another member of staff to do it.'

Zurich mayor Max Baumgartner said: 'The number has shocked me. It looks as though they have been systematically dumped there. We are now waiting to see the outcome of the police investigation.'



Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli (left) has declined to comment. Conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Lady Downes died at the Dignitas clinic in July 2009

In 2008, two Dignitas employees were caught dumping ashes into the lake. At the time Mr Minelli refused to comment but a former employee said: 'The company has always done that.'

More than 115 Britons have travelled to Zurich to end their life at Dignitas since it was founded in 1998 by Mr Minelli, a Swiss lawyer.



Last night Lesley Close, whose brother John died there aged 55 in May 2003, after suffering with motor neurone disease, said: 'This underlines the need for change in British law on the subject of assisted suicide.