An Ecuadorian woman who stunned relatives by knocking on the inside of her coffin during her funeral has died in intensive care a week on.
Bella Montoya, 76, was rushed to hospital after her family opened her casket and found her still alive on Friday, June 9.
She had been admitted to the hospital in Bababhoyo after suffering a heart attack. When she did not respond to resuscitation a doctor at the Martin Icaza Hospital declared her dead.
Ms Montoya’s family held her wake that day but a few hours in started to hear sounds from her coffin.
She then spent seven days in intensive care but died on Friday evening after suffering a stroke.
Her son Gilberto said he is yet to receive an explanation of what happened and warned that things “are not going to stay like this”.
He said his Aunty had lodged a formal complaint and wished to identify the doctor who declared her dead to begin with.
“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.
