Dresden (dpa / sn) - Due to the high excess mortality in the corona pandemic, the Dresden crematorium has reached its limit and is now dependent on the help of others. While otherwise an average of 50 to 60 deceased per day would be brought to the crematorium for cremation, it is now twice that number, said Eva Jähnigen, Mayor of the Department for Environment and Municipal Services of the City of Dresden, on request. After a technical defect, the crematorium can currently only create three quarters of its capacity. Therefore, 100 dead would now have to be taken to other crematoria in Saxony and to a facility in Thuringia. A funeral home company operating nationwide was commissioned to do this. "We will probably have this acute condition until mid-January," said Jähnigen. Much depends on the further course of the pandemic. The storage of coffins is limited. The crematorium in Dresden could take 300 dead in a cold store. There are another 300 places for this purpose in cemeteries in the city. This possibility has not yet been exhausted. However, Dresden operates according to the principle of cremating as quickly as possible in order not to keep relatives waiting unnecessarily. Jähnigen assumes that in the event of a further increase in deaths and the associated cremations, the state of Saxony will take over coordination. Dresden have already cooperated with the crematoria in Meißen and Halle in the past, for example when maintenance work was due and the dead had to be cremated elsewhere.