Corpse falls into grave as coffin breaks

By Renson Mnyamwezi

Mourners were shaken when a body plunged headfirst into the grave after a coffin broke as it was being lowered.

The burial at Msengenyi in Taita last week was disrupted after the ropes used to lower the coffin gave way, causing the coffin to come apart.

Scores of heartbroken mourners and religious leaders fled as they tried to comprehend the meaning of what had happened.

According to a witness, Mr Paul Oling’a, who spoke after the burial of Paul Mzae, 52, women wept and fainted after the incident. ACK’s Rev Amon Mganga, who officiated at the burial ceremony, said trouble started when the lowering gear malfunctioned and stalled.

The ACK priest described the incident as odd, saying it had left many people shaken.

"I have heard of coffins falling elsewhere, but this is the first time to see a body hurled out of a coffin," Mganga noted.

As a cloud of gloom engulfed the burial ceremony, mourning villagers retrieved the partly damaged body from the grave, where it was interred half an hour later after the coffin had been repaired.