Man rescued from open grave after fall
A MAN had to be rescued after falling into an open grave during a funeral.
The incident happened shortly after the funeral finished at Treorchy Cemetery in the Rhondda on Tuesday.
It is believed that the man slipped and fell backwards into the open grave.
He was then rescued by firefighters.
An eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said: “As it all finished everyone was starting to walk away, but because it was on a slope [he] did a backwards somersault.
“First of all everyone was shocked but because the emergency services came, we all left.”
He said a number of people stayed at the graveside with the man, who was believed to be in his late sixties, while he was rescued.
He said the man was in the grave for “quite a while” but was talking.
He added: “It was unbelievable. Thank God he wasn’t seriously hurt.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said they received a call at 2.11pm and sent a crew from Treorchy fire station to the cemetery.
A spokesman said stretchers, a type of support rope and a trauma care kit were used and the man was transferred to the care of the ambulance service.
The crew left the cemetery at about 3.50pm. For more information go to weather.co.uk