It is the stuff of anybody’s nightmare – being buried alive.
For one 88-year-old, that was nearly a reality after she woke up in a coffin.
The elderly woman had appeared unresponsive after her partner could not wake her one morning at their home in Pilsen, Czech Republic.
Fearing the worst, he called emergency services who rushed to help the distressed pensioner but a coroner soon declared her dead.
As her body was being prepared by funeral workers, the woman suddenly opened her eyes when they placed her in the coffin.
The pensioner was then taken to hospital where she is reportedly doing well.
Local police have launched an investigation into how the woman could slip through still alive and the coroner is being suspected of failing to offer aid.
The company that the coroner belonged to has apologised and insisted there will be consequences.
In 2022, another man woke up in a coffin but managed to smash his way out after he was offered as a ‘sacrifice to mother earth’.
Víctor Hugo Mica Alvarez, 30, had passed out while drinking at the opening of the Mother Earth Festival in El Alto, Bolivia, when he found himself 50 miles away inside a casket in Achacachi.
The Mother Earth Festival sees people giving thanks to Pachamama, the goddess of earth and fertility, where they give offerings, also known as a ‘sullu’, to the planet.
Indigenous Bolivians believe the goddess ‘opens her mouth’ for offerings in August, and many will give anything from live animals to sheep foetuses, as well as cocoa leaves and sweets.
Some say ancient human sacrifices and offerings are still carried out in secret.
Alvarez believes that other party-goers had buried him alive as a ‘sullu’, sacrificing him to mother earth.
The 30-year-old told local Bolivian news outlet Página Siete: ‘Last night was the pre-entry [of the festival], we went dancing. And afterwards I don’t remember.
‘The only thing I remember is that I thought I was in my bed, I wanted to get up to go urinate and I couldn’t move.
‘When I pushed the coffin, I was able to break a glass that it had and that way I was able to get out.’
‘They wanted to use me as a sullu.’
But to add insult to injury, when Alvarez reported his burial to police they refused to believe him saying he was too drunk.
The offerings to Pachamama continue all year round, with many indigenous people taking part in folk dances and ritual ceremonies.
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