A religious leader was killed after a Buddhist statue toppled over and crushed him during the unveiling ceremony.

Village chief Saman Chanthayothi, 52, was leading the unveiling ceremony of the monument in Khon Kaen, northeastern Thailand on Monday (November 4) afternoon.

Saman was invited to be the guest of honour tasked with unwrapping the concrete statue, intended to bring good luck and fortune to residents.

But as he tugged away the cloth, the foundations cracked and the giant Buddha fell onto Saman's head, pinning him to the ground.

Locals scattered in panic but when the cloud of dust had settled, they gathered around and found the village leader trapped. He was already dead.

Residents were unable to lift the giant 16ft high monument and waited for the emergency services to arrive to winch it away with a crane.

Surapol Thepboonma said: "I was standing beside Samanwhen when he was unwrapping the statute. But suddenly I heard a crack and people were panicking. They ran in different ways."

"We gathered around the fallen statue after the dust had settled and we were shocked to find our village chief lying dead under the statue with his head crushed."

District sheriff Supachai Leekhaosoong arrived at the scene with police, paramedics and rescue volunteers.

They discovered that the statue's concrete base was not strong enough which caused it to fall while after it was unveiled.

The family took the body to the temple to be held there for a religious ceremony. They accepted the explanation that the death was an accident and did not request further investigations.

A religious leader was killed after unveiling a Buddhist statue which then toppled over and crushed him.

Village chief Saman Chanthayothi, 52, was leading the unveiling ceremony of the monument in Khon Kaen, northeastern Thailand on Monday (04/11) afternoon.

He was invited to be the guest of honour tasked with unwrapping the concrete statue, intended to bring good luck and fortune to residents.

But as he tugged away the cloth, the foundations cracked and the giant Buddha fell onto Saman's head, pinning him to the ground.

Locals scattered in panic but when the cloud of dust had settled, they gathered around and found the village leader trapped. He was already dead.

Residents were unable to lift the giant 16ft high monument and waited for the emergency services to arrive to winch it away with a crane.

Surapol Thepboonma said: "I was standing beside Samanwhen he was unwrapping the statute but suddenly I heard a crack and people were panicking. They ran in different ways.

"We gathered around the fallen statue after the dust had settled and we were shocked to find our village chief lying dead under the statue with his head crushed."

District sheriff Supachai Leekhaosoong arrived at the scene with police, paramedics and rescue volunteers.

They discovered that the statue's concrete base was not strong enough which caused it to fall while being unveiled.

The family took the body to the temple to be held there for a religious ceremony. They accepted the explanation that the death was an accident and did not request further investigations.