An employee who works as a grave digger in New Jersey was trapped when a plot collapsed on him as he prepared it for burial. The scary incident happened on May 5 at Lyndhurst's Hillside Cemetery.

The 59-year-old employee had to be rescued from the 8-foot-deep grave that he jumped into as he and his co-workers were getting ready for a funeral, according to NorthJersey.com. Lyndhurst police Sgt. Vincent Auteri said that the workers did not utilize any shoring when they were digging the grave. He still decided to jump in.

Buried alive

As the said employee was taking measurements, the sides of the grave collapsed, thus trapping him up to his knees. Other employees heard him screaming for help and they immediately alerted the authorities, who were able to free him after 25 minutes.

After the employee was pulled to safety, the cemetery worker was immediately taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for examination. He complained of back and chest pain after the incident. Auteri said that his breathing was never in jeopardy and it was a standard protocol to have him examined.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been notified about the incident and the dangerous condition of the workplace. The Hillside Cemetery is the resting place for Joey Ramone, the lead singer of The Ramones, who was credited for pioneering the punk rock scene in America in the 1970s. The iconic musician was buried at the cemetery after his death in 2001.

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Taphophobia

The incident has prompted nightmares for millions of people. Taphophobia is an irrational fear of being buried alive. The phobia is related to other phobias such as the fear of death or Thanatophobia, the fear of tombstones or Placophobia, the fear of cemeteries or Coimetrophobia, and the fear of tight and enclosed spaces or Claustrophobia.

The word Taphophobia comes from the Greek word taphos which means tombs or graves and phobos which stands for deep dread or fear. Famous people such as poet Edgar Allen Poe, George Washington, Composer F. Chopin, and writer Hans Christian Anderson are known to have Taphophobia. It is also believed that Poe was so obsessed with his fear of being buried alive that he used it as a topic on some of his books such as The Cask of Amontillado, The Premature Burial and The Fall of House of Usher.

Incident in China

Meanwhile, a paralyzed woman in China was buried alive for three days before she was rescued. Her daughter-in-law called the authorities when the woman went missing for days.

The woman said that her husband, known by the surname Ma, had taken his paralyzed mother out but she had not returned. Ma said that he had sent his mother away to stay with their other relatives, but his wife became suspicious and called the police.

After a thorough investigation, Ma confessed to burying his mother in a deserted tomb. When police arrived, they heard a faint cry for help, they found the burial ground and they managed to dig her out. She was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment.

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