Man killed after mother-in-law's headstone falls on him

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A 74-year-old man was killed when his mother-in-law's headstone fell on him. Credit: Reuters/Mark Makela

A 74-year-old man has died after his mother-in-law's headstone fell on him while he was hanging decorations on it for Easter, US authorities said.

The man was with his wife at St Joseph's Cemetery in Pennsylvania when the freak accident happened on Monday morning.

Pennsylvania police told WNEP-TV that Stephen Woytack was crushed by the stone which pinned him down when it unexpectedly toppled over while he was kneeling down trying to hang ornaments.

Mr Woytack's wife Lucy initially tried to move the stone herself, which is estimated to have weighed about 300lbs, but eventually ran for help and located the cemetery's caretaker, Ed Kubilus, who could also not lift the grave marker.

A local policeman arrived and together with Mr Kubilus removed the stone but Mr Woytack had already died.

The policeman said: "It's just a terrible, unfortunate accident. I've never seen anything like that. I'm going on almost 30 years."