World
Woman who knocked on coffin during her own funeral has died
A 76-year-old woman who was wrongly declared dead and surprised family members by knocking on her coffin has now died.
Bella Montoya spent seven days in intensive care but died on Friday evening after suffering a stroke, Ecuador‘s health ministry said.
She was under “permanent surveillance” after the bizarre incident in the city of Babahoyo, which prompted a government investigation into the hospital.
A technical committee has also been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates.
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Woman found alive in coffin
Her son Gilberto said he is yet to receive any medical explanation of what happened from authorities – and warned that things “are not going to stay like this”.
He added that Ms Montoya’s sister had formally complained and was seeking to identify the doctor who declared her dead to begin with.
Mrs Montoya, a former nurse, was rushed back to hospital after spending five hours alive inside her coffin at a funeral home on Friday.
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“It gave us all a fright,” Mr Montoya said.
“There were about 20 of us there … After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds.
“My mum was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.”
She has now been moved back to the same funeral home where the incident initially occurred, and will be buried at a public graveyard.