37-year-old Rosangela Almeida dos Santos, who was buried alive by mistake, laid conscious inside her coffin for 11 days before trying to fight her way out of the stone tomb, was already reportedly dead by the time family members smashed open the tomb last Friday after locals reported hearing screams coming from her grave, according to reports.
Daily Mail reported that the lady desperately tried to escape her wooden casket, which had been nailed shut after she was buried alive.
A shocking footage shows the commotion in the Senhora Santana cemetery in Riachao das Neves, Brazil, as local men took out the heavy coffin and removed the lid.
Ms Santos, who was found with injuries on her hands and forehead where it appeared she had tried to fight her way out, was declared dead by a hospital on January 28 and was buried the next day. Her body had reportedly turned around and still warm, cotton wool which had been in her ears and nostrils had come out. The nails around the sides of the coffin lid had also been pushed upwards, and there were scratches and blood on the inside.
Her family who believed she was declared dead in error, have long reported the incident to the police.
Ms Santos’ sister, Isamara Almeida, said:
‘We don’t want to accuse any doctor, we don’t want to cause any problems, but we witnessed that situation, there’s just no way a person can be buried for 11 days and still be warm.’
Police chief Arnaldo Monte, who is leading the investigation, said:
‘We have today started to take statements from family members and other people.
‘If need be we will exhume Ms Santos’ body again so we can get to the bottom of what really happened.’
Hospital de Oeste’s spokesman who spoke with newsmen, said they ‘will provide all necessary information requested from them to the family and authorities’, which made them declare her dead.
