Woman who knocked on her own coffin at funeral declared dead for a second time

A woman who was discovered alive after knocking inside her own coffin in Ecuador has been declared dead for the second time.

Bella Montoya, 76, was admitted to hospital in the central city of Babahoyo on June 9 with a suspected stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest, the local health ministry said.

She was declared dead after she did not respond.

Later the same day she was transferred to a funeral home for a wake when assembled family members began to hear signs of life.

It was thought she had been in her coffin for around five hours when the family were alerted that she may still be alive. They had opened the casket initially to change her clothes for the funeral.

Ms Montoya’s son Gilberto Barbera said: “After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds.

“My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.

“It gave us all a fright.”

She was rushed back to the hospital in Babahoyo, 129 miles south-west of capital Quito, and placed in intensive care under intubation where she remained for seven days.

The Ecuadorian health ministry said on Saturday that she had died on Friday, June 16 – a full week after her original death certificate had been written.

Mr Barbera told reporters he had not yet been given a formal report of what happened other than that his mother had been under “permanent surveillance” in the hospital.

Ms Montoya’s body was taken back to the same funeral home where she woke up and she is set to be buried in a public cemetery. The deceased was said to be a retired nurse.

A government investigation is being held into the hospital and the sister of Ms Montoya has complained.

The Ecuadorian health ministry said it was investigating the doctors, who have not been named, involved in her case.

AP reported a technical committee had been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates.