A Chinese father was caught attempting to smuggle his two-year-old daughter's body onto a bus in a travel bag after she died of hand, foot and mouth disease.
Yang Cheng, 35, and wife Lin Sun collected Li's remains from the morgue at Hefei Hospital, in Anhui province before carefully packing her into a large holdall.
They then went to the local bus station where they tried to board a vehicle travelling to their home town of Quqiu.
Bereaved: Yang Cheng and his wife Lin Sun (centre with bag) were attempting to get the body of their two-year-old daughter Li home after she died of hand, foot and mouth disease
However, the plan was foiled when horrified staff put the bag through a security scanner and discovered the child's remains inside.
Police were called and Mr Yang was questioned. He told them he had resorted to the desperate measure after realised that he would not be able to afford a hearse.
The man was eventually released without charge and hired a private cab to complete the two hour journey home.
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'We are not wealthy and the undertakers wanted to charge us a fortune,' Mr Yang said.
'It was perfectly dignified and the other passengers would never have known anything about it if the bus company hadn't made such a fuss'.
A police spokesman said: 'It is forbidden to transport bodies on public transport, especially in such an undignified way.
'The tradition is for bodies to be taken home, but not stuffed in a bag in a luggage rack.'
Questioned: The couple had tried to transport their daughter's remains in the holdall (orange bag, bottom of picture) but were caught when the luggage went through a scanner at the bus station
Desperate: The couple (in red and blue jackets) told police about their plan and said they had only done it because they could not afford to pay for a hearse
Crowd: The drama attracted attention from other passengers who were waiting to get on the bus
Final journey: They finally hired a private car to take them home where they laid their little girl to rest