Shocked mourners see corpse fall out

ACHATSWORTH couple have accused Pinetown Funeral Services of negligence after their son’s body fell out of the coffin during his funeral service.

Clinton Pillay, 26, pictured, of Westcliff, died last Monday of organ failure and his funeral took place two days later.

A relative, Linda Padayachee, said Pillay suffered from a disease related to the kidneys.

“When Clinton died, our family was devastated but we rallied together to ensure he was going to have a dignified funeral.

“Those hopes were shattered when the hearse stopped on our driveway,” she said.

In full view of mourners, the undertakers removed the coffin from the hearse and attempted to place it on the stand.

“All eyes were on the coffin and suddenly the bottom of the box broke and Clinton’s body fell out. We were shocked.

“Relatives ran to pick up the body and place it back in the hearse.

“The bottom of the coffin was in two pieces and it could not be used,” said Padayachee.

“The undertakers suggested we place Clinton’s body across the stand and place the shell of the coffin over his corpse and continue with the funeral.

“We got angry and demanded the coffin be replaced. We were told this would cost an additional R5 000.

“Clinton’s body was placed back in the hearse and taken to the funeral palour. When we got to the undertakers, we complained about the incident and were told that buying a coffin was like buying a new car, if we buy it today it can break tomorrow.”

She said Clinton’s body was placed in another coffin and the undertakers had drilled nails and screws into it so that he would be made secure.

“This ordeal has traumatised us. Clinton weighed about 120kg. The undertakers should have seen this and built a stronger coffin to support his weight.”

Clinton was buried at the Mobeni Heights Cemetery on the same day.

The manager of the funeral parlour, Christopher Moodley, said the family was advised to take a larger coffin at the onset but they refused because a bigger coffin would have been more expensive.

“My staff apologised for the incident and compensated the family with a larger coffin,” said Moodley.

The National Funeral Directors’ Association of Southern Africa (NFDA) advised families and funeral parlour owners to communicate with one another when planning a funeral.

An employee at the Association, who refused to be named said: “In this case the family should have asked for an oversized coffin, which caters for people who are overweight.

“The standard weight for a normal coffin is between 80 and 100 kgs.

“The funeral parlour is required to advise them on the right size.

“Families need to also check if the parlours are part of an association because they have a specific code of conduct to follow,” said a representative at the NFDA.