A 76-year-old woman was pronounced dead at a hospital in Ecuador.
When the family held a memorial service at the funeral home, the woman came to life – in the coffin.
– It scared us all, says the son to the news agency AP.
Last Friday, 76-year-old Bella Montoya from Ecuador had to be taken to the emergency room in the city of Babahoyo after becoming unconscious at home. At the hospital, the doctors concluded that she had possibly suffered a stroke.
The doctors tried to carry out life-saving measures, but the woman was pronounced dead at the hospital.
That same day, Bella Montoya’s family took the body to a funeral home where she was placed in a casket. About 20 family members and relatives went to the funeral home to hold a memorial service for the dead 76-year-old, the news agency reports AP.
Shock during the memorial service
In the middle of the ceremony, the loved ones got a shock when they suddenly started hearing sounds – from inside the coffin.
– After about five hours into the memorial service, the coffin started making noises. My mother was wrapped in sheets and banging on the coffin. When we got closer, we could see that she was breathing heavily, son Gilberto Barbera told the news agency.
Bella Montoya was taken back to the hospital where she is now receiving intensive care, according to a statement from the country’s health department.
– It scared us all, says Gilberto Barbera.
The hospital’s routines are reviewed
The Ministry of Health’s statement also states that an investigation has been launched into the incident. One must, among other things, review the routines for how the hospital issues death certificates.
No comment has yet been made on the doctor who pronounced the woman dead.
Bella Montoya’s condition was described on Monday as serious.