NATION : Coffin Crushes Driver of Hearse

The driver of a hearse was crushed to death between the dashboard and a coffin with a body in it in a head-on collision, police said today.

Jack Volkering, 59, was returning from a funeral Mass when a car driven by Lonnie Stephens, 23, crossed the road and struck the hearse, police said. The coffin broke through a metal holding post and struck Volkering in the back, crushing him into the steering wheel and dashboard. Campbell County coroner Fred Stine said Volkering probably suffocated under the pressure. Another hearse picked up the body immediately after the accident and it was buried as scheduled.