A "dead" man alive at own funeral shocked mourners in Brazil when he appeared among them alive and well. In a bizarre case of mistaken identity, a family was in the middle of a funeral for who they thought, was their relative Gilberto Araujo, but it turned out it was another person.
Police inspector Roberto Lima said by telephone that on Sunday Jose Marcos Araujo identified a body at the city morgue as being that of his brother, Gilberto. Lima said that Jose Marcos took the body to his mother's home where a wake was held, according to Brazilian UOL Internet news portal.
Jose Marcos took the body, assumed to his brother, to his mom's home for a wake. According to custom, burial services in Brazil take place the same or next day after a person passes away.
"The confusion started when news started circulating that a car washer had been shot dead," Jose Marcos' wife, Ana Paula. "Police called my husband and told him that his brother had been killed and his body was at the morgue."
However, a few hours before Gilberto was to be buried, a family member noticed him walking along a street and shouted to the people that were gathered at his mother's house for his memorial service, alerting them of the "dead man walking". Some people fainted at the presence of the man who had come alive, while others fled in fear.
The Brazilian man was very much alive at his own funeral and soon cleared up the confusion with his family and friends.
Later, the person thought to be Gilberto Marcos Araujo was identified as Genivaldo Santos Gama.
