Shock as Brazilian turns up at own wake

A Brazilian man shocked his family when he appeared at his own wake, police in north-eastern Brazil say.  The family was gathered around the body of what they believed to be 41-year-old car washer Gilberto Araujo when the man himself showed up, causing some relatives to faint. The body in the coffin is believed to be that of another car washer, who relatives say looked like Gilberto. Gilberto's brother said he had misidentified him in the morgue.

'Overjoyed'

Jose Marcos Araujo said he had not seen his brother in four months.  He had heard news of the killing of a car washer, and when confronted with a body in the morgue, which he said looked very much like his brother, he assumed it was Gilberto. The family took the body to his mother's home in the town of Alagoinhas where they mourned the death.

Gilberto Araujo said he was told about his own death by an acquaintance in the street. "A friend told me there was a coffin and that I was inside it," he said. "So I said: 'But I'm alive, pinch me!'" His mother told reporters she was overjoyed when her son showed up alive. "What mother wouldn't be after being told that her son is dead and then sees him alive?" she told reporters.

Police inspector Roberto Lima said the confusion surrounding Mr Araujo's presumed death was "understandable". "The two men closely resembled each other and both worked as car washers," he said.

BBC News