A family is suing a Massachusetts funeral home after their family member's casket broke open as it was being lowered into the ground and his body fell out.
Per The Eagle-Tribune, the family of Andrew Serrano filed a lawsuit against the Perez Funeral Home last Wednesday in the Essex Superior Court in the city of Lawrence.
The lawsuit said that during the funeral in April 2019, "one of the side straps on the city-owned casket lowering device broke, causing Serrano's casket to fall into the grave and break apart," per AP News.
The family listed nine counts in the lawsuit, including negligence and negligent and reckless infliction of emotional distress, the report said.
"When the casket broke apart, Mr. Serrano's corpse fell out of the casket into the grave and began oozing fluid," according to the lawsuit filed last Wednesday in Essex Superior Court.
Per New York Post, the lawsuit said that this was witnessed by "horrified family members who became visibly distraught and hysterical."
Some family members then leaped into the grave to help, the lawsuit said, the newspaper reported. The body was eventually brought back to the funeral home, and Serrano was buried a few days later, The Eagle-Tribune said, citing the lawsuit.
The funeral took place in the Bellevue Cemetery, which is owned by the city of Lawrence. The lawsuit also named the city, the cemetery's board of trustees, and its directors.
Serrano's family alleges negligence and reckless infliction of emotional distress and names the city of Lawrence, E&J Memorial Services, Inc and the Bellevue Cemetery Board of Trustees.
The family is seeking at least $50,000 in damages, the lawsuit said, the newspaper reported.
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