Temple staff in Thailand discovered a woman alive inside her coffin just moments before she was scheduled to be cremated, halting a ceremony that had been arranged after her family believed she died two days earlier.
The incident happened at a temple in the Phitsanulok province, where workers opened the coffin after hearing faint knocking from inside.
Authorities said the woman had been bedridden for about two years, and her family reported that she appeared to stop breathing earlier in the week. Believing she had passed, her brother placed her in a coffin and drove her toward Bangkok, where he hoped to donate her organs. A hospital declined to accept her without an official death certificate, prompting the family to seek assistance from the temple, which offered to cover medical costs and provide a free cremation.
Staff preparing the ceremony reported hearing movement from inside the coffin, leading them to open it and find the woman alive, though weak. She was immediately transferred to a local hospital for evaluation.
Local officials say the case underscores the challenges of confirming deaths in areas where medical access is limited, and the investigation remains open as doctors assess her condition.
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