Mourners flee funeral as the ‘deceased’ wakes up

Mourners at a funeral in Zimbabwe were stunned when the dead man woke up as they filed by his coffin, state media reported today.

Brighton Dama Zanthe, 34, was being laid to rest inside a coffin last Monday after he apparently died at his home following a long illness.

The transport worker’s grieving family covered his body with blankets and made arrangements to transfer him to a local mortuary, according to a report in the Herald newspaper.

But the next day Mr Zanthe’s friends and relatives scattered in disbelief when he started moving as they filed past to say their emotional goodbyes.

The dead man’s boss Lot Gaka told the Herald of the moment he realised his employee was still alive.

He said: ‘I was the first to notice Zanthe’s moving legs as I was in the queue to view his body. This shocked me.

‘At first I could not believe my eyes but later realised that there was indeed some movements on the body as other mourners retreated in disbelief.’

Mr Gaka, who runs a bus company in the midlands city of Gweru, told the newspaper Mr Zanthe had been persistently unwell before his ‘death’ last week.

He told how he visited the family’s home to offer support when his employee’s wife called to say he had passed away.

He said: ‘Zanthe had been on sick leave for some time and everyone at work was aware that he was critical.

‘We would visit him at his home.

‘I was not surprised when I received a call from Zanthe’s wife on Monday night last week saying that her husband had died.’

He added: ‘I visited two local funeral parlours for quotations before I drove to Zanthe’s house so that we could take the body to the mortuary.

‘Zanthe’s body had already been put in a coffin and people were preparing to conduct a body viewing procession so that his body could be taken to a mortuary.

‘It was during the body viewing procession that he “resurrected”.’

Another witness told the state-controlled newspaper how the family desperately pulled blankets off Mr Zanthe’s body to try to revive him after realising he was still alive.

He said: ‘Gaka later removed some blankets from Zanthe’s body after we noticed some movements and this was when we all realised that there was still life.

‘We then called an ambulance which came within seven minutes.

‘It’s really a miracle and most people are still in disbelief.’

The Herald, which is owned by Zimbabwe’s government, reported that Mr Zanthe spent two days on life support after being rushed to the Gweru Provincial Hospital following the incident.

He was discharged last week and has since returned home.

The shaken family man told the newspaper he had only a hazy recollection of the event.

He said: ‘This issue can be best told by people who came to my house to attend my funeral.

‘I don’t know what happened and I only remember being on a life support system in hospital.’

He added: ‘Everything is history to me.

‘What I can only confirm is that people gathered at my house to mourn but I was given another chance and I am alive. I feel okay now.’