'Dead' Man Awakens Before Autopsy, Shocks Doctors by Asking for Glass of Water
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
An Indian man who was knocked unconscious during a stampede of thousands of religious pilgrims on a steep Himalayan mountain path woke up as doctors were preparing to perform his autopsy, the Times of India reported.
Mange Ram, 19, lost consciousness in the stampede that killed 150 people and was triggered by rumors of a landslide leading to a Hindu temple devoted to the goddess Naina Devi.
Ram awoke in the hospital morgue Sunday in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
"When I woke up, I was in the middle of a row of bodies waiting for post mortem," he told the Times. "My throat was parched and I asked for water. Towering over me the doctors and nursing staff at Anandpur Sahib Civil Hospital looked dazed. They must have been surprised to see a dead man come alive like that."
Sat Pal Aggarwal, a doctor on the pilgrimage, said little was done to see if victims of the stampede were still alive.
"People were dumped quite haphazardly into trucks without following any procedure or checking if they were alive," he told the Times.
Despite the huge loss of life, the pilgrimage continued only hours after the corpses had been cleared, according to the newspaper.
Don't take my advice, I'm just a poor Pastor with a Zecco account
