Moments of horror in a cemetery in Slovakia. The family heard noises from the grave and asked for the exhumation: “We called him “father”, and it was as if he answered us”
Relatives of a deceased man complained of hearing noises and banging coming from inside the grave. The unusual incident happened in a cemetery in the Slovak village of Bijakovce. The authorities intervened urgently, and the police and firemen decided to open the grave to check if there was any explanation for the disturbing sounds.
The relatives of a deceased man complained that they heard noises from the grave. PHOTO: Facebook/Unsolved Files
The 65-year-old was buried on April 8 after suffering severe medical complications. According to the town's mayor, Jozef Kalinaj, he was suffering from diabetes, and just a few days before his death, his leg had been amputated, Slovakian media reports.
“Then, apparently, he got septicemia, and the situation was already very serious,” explained the mayor.
“It sounded like someone knocking on a coffin”
The incident took place on the 18th day after the funeral, when the family had come, as usual, to light candles at the grave.
Relatives claim to have heard repeated noises that seemed to come from the very inside of the tomb.
“It sounded like someone knocking on a coffin,” a family member said.
The situation became even more disturbing after relatives say the sounds seemed to react to the voice of one of the sons.
“We called him “father”, and it was as if he answered us”, a relative said.
The man's daughter said that, scared, she first tried to ask the village priest for help, but he was not at home. The family later contacted the funeral home, which referred them to the police.
“The cops heard the same thing we did. They heard the beating too,” the woman said, according to Slovak media.
The tomb was opened
Considering the seriousness of the suspicions and the emotional state of the family, the police treated the case with utmost seriousness.
Firefighters, police and representatives of the local administration were mobilized to the scene, and the grave was opened.
When the coffin was lifted, the body was found in the same position in which it had been buried.
“The authorities were curious what it could be. Maybe water, but when I opened it, there was no water at all. It didn't look like it did when we brought him from the hospital. His cheeks were red.” said the deceased's daughter.
A medical examiner arrived on the scene and ordered the body to be transported to Martin for a new autopsy.
The verdict of the specialists
The results of the autopsy did not identify anything suspicious and categorically ruled out the hypothesis that the man was buried alive.
The president of the Slovak Association of Funeral and Cremation Services, Ladislav Stríž, explained that such a scenario is impossible.
“The process of establishing death has very strict rules. (…) It is impossible for someone to survive more than two weeks in the grave”, he specified.
The specialist considers other explanations much more plausible, such as the expansion of some concrete components due to temperature variations or the presence of rodents.
The same theory is also supported by the mayor of the town, who believes that the noises could have been produced by animals entering the burial pit.
The family remains convinced
Although experts have ruled out anything out of the ordinary, the family still maintains that the noises were real and that the deceased was trying to communicate.
After the investigations were completed, the body was returned to the relatives, who organized a new burial ceremony.
