Yesterday Sunday afternoon I was enjoying the beautiful weather and took a ride to Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands to finish photographing and cleaning my ancestor's graves. The day was perfect. Not too hot nor too cold. The cemetery had numerous visitors. Some families, couples, walkers, and bicyclists all over the place.
Unfortunately sometime shortly after I left the cemetery, a 911 call was placed to the historic cemetery. A tombstone tipped over onto a four year old child critically injuring him. The child was just behind the rest of the family when the accident occurred. Very few details have emerged yet aside from the parents hearing a noise behind them and turning and finding the stone on top of their child.
This is a very unfortunate accident. I always stress to my girls that when we are in a cemetery never ever climb on the stones for fear of this happening to them. I am not stating that the child was climbing on the stone; since I was not there. But it is very easy for a stone to topple over if someone attempted to climb one. Over time the ground around the tombstone can sink causing the stone to become un-level. After a stone starts leaning the forces of gravity will continue to pull on it where any adhesive or pinning of a top stone to a lower stone can become weakened. With just a little force it could go over.
Parents please keep a watchful eye out for your kids in cemeteries. My girls are teens and I still warn them everytime they are with me. No one wants an accident like this to occur.
Below is a story from Channel 10 News:
Boy injured from falling tombstone at Albany Rural Cemetery
Posted: Sep 08, 2014 7:11 AM EDT Updated: Sep 08, 2014 07:50 AM
By Lindsay Nielsen
COLONIE, N.Y. - A young child has been treated at the hospital for serious injuries after a tombstone fell on him Sunday.
Colonie Police say the a four-year-old boy was taken to Albany Medical Center after suffering a serious head injury after a tombstone fell on him at Albany Rural Cemetery.
"The child was approximately ten feet behind the parents and one of the grandparents when this occurred they did hear a noise which we believe was the tombstone falling over," said Colonie Police Lt. Robert Winn.
According to Winn, the family rushed over and found the four-year-old boy underneath the tombstone around 4:30 p.m. Family members quickly removed the boy and called 911 for help.
Officials say it was difficult to locate the child due to the vast size of the cemetery. It took police about 12 minutes to locate the boy with the help of 911 operators and the family. Authorities say the caller was giving names on nearby tombstones to try and help officers locate the family.
"The child had sustained obvious head injuries that was observed at the scene [he] was unconscious but still breathing, [he was] transported to Albany Medical Center [and] was in surgery when our officers left the hospital. The family is with him," said Lt. Winn.
Authorities are unsure why the tombstone fell over.
"It was an older tombstone and an older section of the cemetery. We do not know at this time what led to that tombstone falling," continued Lt. Winn
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the incident, although they say it seems to have been just a tragic accident.
For the news video see:
http://www.news10.com/story/26472421/boy-injured-from-falling-tombstone-at-albany-rural-cemetery
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