A quiet moment of religious celebration turned into a bizarre and frightening scene in Villafrati, a small town near Palermo. During an evening procession in honor of Saint Joseph, the heavy statue of the town's patron saint suddenly broke loose from the large wooden platform used by worshippers to carry it through the streets. Just as the structure was being lifted to resume the procession, the statue fell from its position and crashed directly into the crowd. A 56-year-old man was struck in the arm and injured by the falling statue. The impact also caused the sculpture to lose its head and the arm of the figure of the Child Jesus it was holding. Despite the shock and the unusual nature of the accident, the worshippers did not lose heart: they retrieved the damaged statue and carried it back to the church, while residents sought to determine what had caused the technical failure.