Woman revived during wake dies after a week in ICU

A 76-year-old woman in Ecuador has died seven days after surprising her relatives by knocking on her coffin during her wake. Bella Montoya had been declared dead and spent five hours inside her coffin before waking up on June 9 at a funeral home in Babahoyo. She was rushed to a state hospital where she remained under "permanent surveillance" but died from an ischemic stroke, according to the country's health ministry. The ministry did not provide further information on the medical investigation surrounding the case. Montoya's son, Gilberto Barbera Montoya, has said that he has not yet received any report from the authorities on the medical explanation of what happened and warned that things "are not going to stay like this." He added that a sister of the deceased woman had formally complained about the incident, seeking to identify the doctor who declared her dead to begin with. The remains of Montoya, who was a retired nurse, are back at the same funeral home where she woke up. Her son told the Associated Press that she will be buried at a public cemetery. A technical committee has been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates, the country's ministry of health said last week.