Ecuador: ‘dead’ woman who was found alive in her coffin dies in intensive care

Bella Montoya reportedly woke up and started knocking on 9 June after spending five hours inside her coffin at a funeral home in Babahoyo, about 208km south-west of Quito

Bella Montoya stunned her relatives by knocking on her own coffin during her wake. Photograph: Ecuador Comunicación via AP

A 76-year-old woman who had been declared dead and surprised her relatives by knocking on her coffin during her wake earlier this month has died after seven days in intensive care.

Ecuador’s health ministry confirmed in a statement that Bella Montoya died from an ischemic stroke after spending a week in intensive care. It added that Montoya had remained under “permanent surveillance” but didn’t provide further information on the medical investigation surrounding the case.