A woman who was believed to be dead and about to be cremated at the Wat Rat Prakhong Tham Buddhist temple in the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, has been found alive by staff.
The temple's general manager Pairat Soodthoop was startled to hear a faint knock from the coffin, he told the Associated Press news agency.
Mr. Soodthoop said he asked for the coffin to be opened and saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time, he added.
The brother of the 65-year-old woman said local officials told him his sister had died. However, the temple's manager stated that the brother did not have a death certificate.
As Mr. Soodthoop tried to explain to the brother how to obtain a death certificate, the staff heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.
Once it became clear the woman was alive, the temple's abbot (head of a Buddhist monastery) said she should be taken to the hospital immediately.
A doctor later confirmed that the woman had been experiencing severe hypoglycemia - a condition where blood sugar levels get critically low, local reports said.
The doctor ruled out the possibility that she had suffered respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.
The younger brother mentioned that his sister had been bedridden for the past two years, and as her health deteriorated, she appeared to have stopped breathing on Saturday, according to the temple's manager.
The family had travelled from Phitsanulok province for the cremation ceremony, making a nearly 500km (311 mile) journey.
