A Nicaraguan woman had to be buried for the second time after her family exhumed her body because they thought she was still alive.
MarÃa López, 24, died on February 11 at New Dawn Hospital in the Caribbean coast town of Waspam and was buried February 12, according to local outlet SNC.
On February 15, her parents had her coffin dug out from her burial site at a cemetery last Thursday after someone called their daughter’s cellphone claiming López ‘was still alive.’
López’s body was removed from the coffin and taken to the family residence, where she was bathed with salt, vinegar, and lemons and then placed the body on a bed as family and friends held a vigil.
A New Dawn Hospital doctor visited the home after some family members raised the idea that López was pregnant, but the physician tested her and confirmed that she was dead.
Waspam’s city risk management director Kenny Mayorga said the family was not convinced by the doctor and opted for her to ‘be examined by a traditional doctor and rule out that she is dead, because they claim that the girl (had) tears and sweat to her forehead.’
The family held prayer services for five days, in hopes that López would somehow resuscitate.
Her parents and close family members then took López’s body to a fasting and prayer center for a ceremony as it started to show signs of decomposition and laid her to rest for a second time on Monday.
The incident comes just eight months after 76-year-old woman shocked her family by banging on her coffin during her wake in Ecuador.
Bella Montoya reportedly woke up and started knocking after spending five hours inside her coffin at a funeral parlor in the municipality of Babahoyo on June 9, 2023.
Montoya died from a stroke on June 16 at MartÃn Icaza Hospital after spending a week in intensive care.