An 88-year-old woman in Brazil who had been pronounced dead last week narrowly escaped being buried alive when she woke up inside her coffin two days later.

Maria das Dores da Conceicao was pronounced dead on Wednesday at a city hospital in Ipatinga, Minas Gerais, a state in eastern Brazil, and was brought to a mortuary to be prepared for burial.

But she was rushed back to the intensive care unit of the same hospital – coffin and all – on Friday after workers at the mortuary noticed her breathing and stirring.

One of da Conceicao's grandchildren told Brazil's G1 website that she saw her grandmother looking very much alive when she arrived back at the hospital in the hearse.

"She was breathing and moving about on one side of the coffin more than when she had been initially hospitalized," Noeme Silva Amancio said, according to The Daily Mail.

The city's mayor said police would investigate why da Conceicao had been pronounced dead and had her death certificate signed.

Da Conceicao had been admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and had a medical history of hypertension, vascular disease and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, according to Brazil's O Dia.

She had part of her leg amputated in November, O Dia reported.

"We are happy to know my mother is alive and unhappy with the lack of respect due her," Custodia Amancio, da Conceicao's daughter, said, according to The Daily Mail. "We are still not sure if we will sue the municipality and hospital."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/12/26/2010-12-26_ill_elderly_woman_in_brazil_wakes_up_in_coffin_two_days_after_doctors_pronounce_.html#ixzz1BD1d2ubV