Laying a loved one to rest is not an easy task. For one family however, this was made worse when they turned up at the cemetery and discovered that another person had been buried in the spot that was reserved for their relative.

When the family and friends of the deceased woman arrived at the May Pen Cemetery last Saturday, they were not expecting the confusion they were greeted with.

After a funeral service on Windward Road, the woman's body was taken to the cemetery for interment.

The procession arrived at the cemetery at 1 p.m. on Saturday and immediately, friends and family noticed that things were not in order.

"When we got there, there was no one at the office post. There wasn't a log book or anything that could show us where the grave was located. We just walked in and went to the spot for the funeral," one of the mourners told THE STAR yesterday.

This would soon prove to be the least of their worries however, as when they made their way to the burial spot, they learnt that someone else had been buried there earlier that morning.

A family friend described the situation as "gross carelessness and past distasteful" and explained that the relatives of the deceased, who were mostly from overseas, were incensed.

Shocked and confused, the family tried to find out what had gone wrong. Two grave diggers were the only persons associated with the cemetery that were present and they reportedly offered to dig another grave for the deceased.

Eventually, a decision to remove the body that was wrongfully buried in the spot, was taken. The body was laid to rest close to two hours after it arrived at the cemetery, and after the priest, had to be recalled after he left in the confusion.

When THE STAR spoke to the priest, who wished not to be named, he confirmed that he had been waiting at the cemetery for over an hour, while friends and family of the deceased searched for her burial spot. He said he had suggested that the burial take place another day and left the cemetery. He was later called back when the spot had been found.

Repeated efforts to contact Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie and Town Clerk Errol Green, were unsuccessful.