Family sues over intoxicated gravediggers

ALBUQUERQUE, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A family has filed suit against an Albuquerque funeral home for trying to stuff their relative's coffin into a grave that wasn't big enough.

In the suit relatives of Willie White charge the gravediggers hired by the Salazar & Sons Mortuary had apparently been drinking because beer cans were scattered around the gravesite when the family arrived for the funeral, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

The suit accuses funeral director Lawrence Salazar of also being intoxicated and jumping up and down on White's casket to try to fit it into the grave that had been prepared.

When asked about the allegations, Salazar said he couldn't comment.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Bertarand Parnall, said the problems resulted in a failure for the family to accomplish closure.

White, a U.S. Army veteran, died in July, 2005.