Paramedics raced to the Lancashire cemetery where the boy was treated after a gravestone fell onto him, with officials later confirming he tragically died
A four-year-old boy has died in a cemetery after a gravestone fell onto him.
Paramedics raced to Rawtenstall Cemetery, in Lancashire, at about 1pm where emergency services confirmed he had died. Lancashire Police said the boy’s death is not being treated as suspicious and said they will pass a file to the HM Coroner “in due course.” A Lancashire Police spokesperson told The Lancashire Telegraph: “We were called to Rawtenstall Cemetery at 1pm today [July 5] following reports a gravestone had fallen onto a child.
“Tragically, and despite the best efforts of the emergency services, the boy sadly died. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this devastating time. His death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be passed onto HM Coroner in due course.”
Rawtenstall Cemetery currently holds 21,00 burials and covers 17 acres, according to the local government website.
There is a chapel in the cemetery than can seat about 40 people and can be hired for a small fee. The cemetery caters for Catholic, Church of England, non-Conformist and Muslim burials.
This comes after one of two teenage boys who were found dead on railway tracks was named for the first time.
Joshua Myers and another boy, both 16, were found dead near Poynton Station, close to Stockport, Greater Manchester. In May, Cheshire Police had issued an appeal to help trace Joshua, from Handforth, after he went missing and was believed to have made his way to Devon and Cornwall 200 miles away.
The teen was found but went missing again for a day in June. Then on Thursday, Joshua and another teen were found dead near the station shortly before 10.30pm. The British Transport Police, who are leading the investigation, said their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.
Officials closed railway lines so that medics could reach the teenagers, but sadly both boys were pronounced dead at the scene. Several services were affected by the closure including Avanti West Coast, Cross Country and Northern services – and trains didn’t resume until around 6am on Friday.
A passenger who got off a train at the station in Poyton on Friday told Manchester Evening News the double tragedy was “devastating”, saying: “It’s just devastating. I have teenage children myself, including a 16-year-old boy. It brings it so close to home.”
No further details surrounding the circumstances of what police suspect happened have been revealed. A BTP spokesperson said: “Officers were called at around 10.10pm (on July 3rd) to reports of a casualty on the tracks near Poynton railway station.
“Officers attended with paramedics. Very sadly and despite the best efforts of paramedics two 16-year-old boys were both pronounced dead at the scene.”