THROOP, Pa., April 1 (UPI) -- An elderly man died Monday at a cemetery in Throop, Pa., where his mother-in-law's tombstone fell on top of him.

Stephen Woytack, 74, of Scranton, Pa., was visiting St. Joseph's Cemetery with his wife. When he knelt down beside his mother-in-law's grave, her tombstone fell over and pinned him to the ground.


"It happened so quickly," his wife, Lucy, told the Scranton Times-Tribune.

The cemetery's caretaker, Ed Kubilus, told WNEP that the Woytacks visited the gravesite every Easter.

Kubilus said he heard Lucy calling for help.

"Usually I come down and talk to them right away but I went up the other end to start picking up the Christmas ornaments and she came running up, 'Help me, the stone fell on Stephen!'"

According to Kubilus, gravestones can become unstable during spring when the ground starts to thaw.