Enlarge image
Funeral in China (icon image)
Photo: Kyodo News / IMAGO
After the funeral of their supposed relatives, a family in China found out that the person believed dead is actually still alive.
As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) from Hong Kong, after a three-day funeral ceremony, the five children of 87-year-old Ms. Yin were told by a hospital in the city of Nanning that their mother had not died at all - but that she was a mother buried another woman.
According to SCMP, the reason for this was a serious mix-up.
Ms. Yin, who lived in a nursing home, felt unwell.
When she was admitted to the hospital, staff swapped Ms. Yin's information with that of another 73-year-old patient from the same nursing home who was admitted around the same time.
The latter later died.
According to the SCMP, Ms. Yin's five children identified the dead woman at the hospital as her mother.
According to a relative, the children saw an elderly person wearing a hat and read the identity information on the corpse's wristband and on the deathbed.
They would have been in a hurry and signed the documents.
Children react angrily to survival message
The family held a three-day, two-night traditional ceremony in their village.
According to the SCMP, when Ms. Yin's children learned afterwards that they had not buried their mother, they reacted angrily: they had lost face in front of the village.
According to the report, the family and the hospital are now negotiating a compensation payment.
(Click here for the original report. )
According to the SCMP, a hospital worker admitted the mix-up, but also blamed the family.
'You've confirmed the identity of the dead.
And then they cleaned and scrubbed her body for dozens of minutes,” the worker said.
"How come they didn't realize it was their own mother?" The dead woman was 14 years younger than Ms. Yin.
How the family of the 73-year-old reacted is not known.
che