QUEENS — A cemetery worker was seriously injured after he plunged into a grave after tripping over the headstone that he was moving at a Middle Village cemetery Friday morning, the FDNY said.
Firefighters received a call about 10:15 a.m. and were able to get the man out of the grave in St. John Cemetery, at 80-01 Metropolitan Ave., about 30 minutes later, fire officials said.
The man, in his 60s, "was trying to move the gravestone around" in preparation for a funeral, Chief Christopher Joyce said at the scene. "He tripped and lost his footing."
Joyce said the man was unresponsive when firefighters got there.
"All I heard him do was moan," Joyce said, adding that the man suffered leg and shoulder injuries. He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital is stable condition, Joyce said.
A staff member at St. John who was reached by phone did not have any information about the incident.