A funeral home worker was crushed to death when a burial vault toppled on him in a freak accident at a Dallas mortuary Monday, according to local officials.
Texas firefighters found the man around 2 p.m. pinned from the waist down by the vault, which had been stacked outside the Restland Funeral Home, Cemetery and Crematory, according to Dallas Fire and Rescue.
Such vaults are often made of concrete to protect caskets from the elements after burial.
A burial vault fell on a worker at a Texas funeral home, fatally crushing him. FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
The worker suffered fatal lower-body injuries. FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth
Responders needed hydraulic spreaders and air bags — typically used in car-wreck extractions — to free the worker, who was rushed to the hospital with serious lower body injuries, NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported.
He then died later that day.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
“We are saddened by the loss of our long-standing valued employee,” the funeral home, which has been operating since 1925, told The Post in a statement Tuesday.
“We are cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause. His family and his fellow Restland employees need our support, and we ask that we all give them space and time to grieve.”