Woman who revived during her wake declared dead again after week in hospital

Gilberto Barbera Montoya, the woman’s son, told The Associated Press that doctors at the hospital in Ecuador where she was taken said she died on Friday.Ecuador’s health ministry said that Bella Montoya died from an ischaemic stroke after spending a week in intensive care. It added that she had been under “permanent surveillance” but did not provide further information on the medical investigation surrounding the case.

Mr Barbera Montoya said that he had not received any report from the authorities about what happened and added that things “are not going to stay like this”. He said that a sister of the dead woman had formally complained, seeking to identify the doctor who declared her dead to begin with.

Bella Montoya reportedly woke up and started knocking after spending five hours inside her coffin at a funeral parlour in Babahoyo, about 129 miles southwest of Quito, on June 9. A technical committee will review how the hospital issues death certificates, the country’s ministry of health said last week.