Gravestone Accident Kills Four-Year-Old at Lancashire Cemetery

A four-year-old boy died after a gravestone toppled onto him at Rawtenstall Cemetery on Burnley Road in Haslingden, Lancashire, at about 13:00 BST on Saturday, 5 July. Emergency crews were called to the scene, but the child was pronounced dead despite paramedics’ efforts. Lancashire Police said the death is not being treated as suspicious and that a file will be passed to the HM Coroner. The force offered condolences to the boy’s family and said further details would be released in due course. The tragedy has prompted renewed attention to cemetery safety. In a similar case in 2015, an eight-year-old boy in Glasgow was killed by an unsecured monument, leading to a fatal-accident inquiry and a subsequent six-figure compensation payment by the city council.