Municipal blunder leads to family digging Groningen woman's grave

Relatives of a cremated woman from Groningen ended up digging the grave for her urn themselves last month after the Noordenveld municipality forgot to arrange for a gravedigger, RTV Noord reports. The family arrived at the cemetery to find that there was no grave for the urn. The undertaker happened to have a shovel in the car and came up with a solution. "At her instructions we, together with my brother in law, dug a hole", the deceased woman's son-in-law said to the broadcaster. "After the ceremony we also closed the hole ourselves." The municipality of Noordeveld sent the family a letter of apology. "It's a stupid mistake and emotional for the relatives. But we can't put it right", responsible alderman Reint-Jan Auwema said. "We simply forgot to arrange for a gravedigger. Very simple but harrowing."