1,275. One Who Died Suddenly

197:8 When the deceased is taken from the house, we must be make sure that no one goes ahead of him. It doesn't matter, however, if the pallbearers carrying the deceased need to precede him.

197:9 Regarding a person who suddenly fell down and died, if his body was wounded and bleeding and we suspect that his "lifeblood" was absorbed in his clothes and shoes, we don't perform the taharah (purification). Rather, he is buried in his clothes and shoes. We do, however, wrap a sheet around him, over his clothes.

The practice is to dig up the ground where the deceased collapsed. If there's blood there and nearby, we bury with him all the dirt that has blood on it. We only bury the deceased with the clothes he was wearing. If blood sprayed onto other clothes that he wasn't wearing,  or if he was laid on sheets and pillows while he was bleeding, these things don't need to be buried. Rather, they should be washed thoroughly until no signs of blood remain; the water is then poured into the grave.

If the deceased didn't bleed, we remove his clothes and perform taharah. He is then dressed in shrouds as per usual. Similarly, if a person drowned, we remove his clothes and prepare his body like any other corpse. In some places the practice is to bury a drowned person in the clothes he was wearing; every place should follow its own practice.