Indonesian man fatally injured by mother's falling coffin

A horrifying accident turned a funeral into a double tragedy

Samen Kondorura, 40, was mourning his mother's death, when he lost his own life in a horrifying accident during her funeral, reported Independent.co.uk.

The incident took place in the South Sulawesi island, where the Toraja traditions demand that the deceased be carried in a procession to an elaborate funeral tower where the coffin containing the body rests during the days-long funebral ceremonies.

On this occasion, the sad event became a scene of horror when the pallbearers carrying the coffin up the tower dropped it, and it struck the deceased's son.

The moment was captured on a mobile phone by one of the mourners and has gone viral on Youtube.

"As the mother's coffin was being raised to the lakkian, suddenly the ladder shifted and collapsed, the coffin fell and hit the victim."

Chief CommissionerJulianto Sirait, Independent.co.uk, 17th of June 2018.

The video shows the pallbearers losing their footing on the tower's rickety ladder, and the coffin falling several meters on to the mourners, trapping several people.

Kondorura suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to the hospital where he died. Authorities attributed the accident to shoddy workmanship of the tower builders, but the family has refused to press charges.

The man's body has now been released by the authorities and taken to his hometown, where he is resting in his own coffin next to his mother, Berta, in the very same funeral tower that cost him his life.

Berta and Samen Kondorura's joint funerals are scheduled to proceed in the time-honored tradition of the Torajans. The funeral rites will continue for several days and will feature, feast, music, and dancing - and will culminate in the sacrifice of water buffalo.

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