A grieving pet owner collapsed and died 'from a broken heart' while digging a grave for his beloved dog.

Saw Tin Aung Tun, 68, was preparing a final resting place for his female dog named Kluay Kaek, who had been living with him for more than a decade.

But racked with grief, he collapsed on the ground outside his home in Chachoengsao, eastern Thailand.

His wife, Peerakan Kamolsuphachanok, 62, screamed in horror as she saw her husband clutch his chest and fall over just moments after heaping dirt onto the grave.

She called neighbours for help, but her husband had already stopped breathing beside the spot where the canine was buried.

Police and paramedics rushed to the single-storey property to collect his body on Monday morning.

Photos show Saw, from Myanmar, lying on his back next to a freshly covered dirt mound at the back of the couple's home. Nearby was a shovel, still caked in mud and detritus, which he had earlier used for digging.

Officers said they found no injuries or signs of foul play at the scene. They learned that Saw suffered from high blood pressure.

His wife, Peerakarn, tearfully recounted how their dog had died earlier that morning after several days of illness.

She said: 'I was already prepared because Kluay Kaek was old. She had been sick for a while already. But it was a shock for my husband when she died.

'I asked my husband to bury her beside the house. I told him not to rush as it's hard to dig up the clay soil. He worked for more than an hour because the hole had to be deep, and Kluay Kaek was a large dog.

'I helped him drag her into the grave and cover it with soil. When we finished burying her, he suddenly collapsed while packing in the dirt. I screamed for help but it was too late.

'I am sure my husband died from a broken heart. He loved his dog more than anything in the world.'

Rescue workers took Saw's body to the Buddhasothorn Hospital for a post-mortem exam to determine the exact cause of his death.