An Indonesian man was killed at his mother’s traditional Toraja funeral Friday when her coffin fell on him.
The pallbearers lost their footing as they were carrying the coffin up a bamboo ladder to the traditional ornately carved funeral tower. Video depicts the coffin striking several men, and crushing Samen Kondorura, the deceased's 40-year-old son.
“As the mother’s coffin was being raised to the lakkian, suddenly the ladder shifted and collapsed, the coffin fell and hit the victim,” Julianto Sirait, the chief commissioner of the Tana Toraja resort police, told Agence France-Presse.
He added that an inspection conducted after the incident revealed that the ladder was insufficiently reinforced.
The graphic footage depicts people running to the aid of those injured by the falling coffin. Kondorura was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries.
National Geographic reported the Toraja ethnic group is noted for their elaborate funeral rituals that can last for days. The bodies of the dead are treated with formaldehyde and relatives may take care of them for weeks and even years after death.
Sirait told AFP the body of Kondorura is now resting alongside his mother Berta.
The incident became the subject of black humor on social media.
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