Man turns up alive at his own funeral in Argentina, prompting questions over morgue mix-up

A man who had been reported dead after a days-long drinking binge appeared at his own funeral in Alderetes, north of Cordoba, Argentina, shouting 'I'm alive' and startling mourners.

The missing man, 22, had been reported to police by his mother after another young man was run over by a sugarcane truck in the area. Although investigators initially considered suicide, prosecutors later classified the case as negligent homicide and ordered an autopsy on the body. The mother said she recognized the body by clothing and certain physical features, and authorities released the remains to the family, who organized a wake.

The astonished mourners were stunned again when the 22-year-old arrived at the ceremony alive. He told authorities he had spent several days on a drinking binge in Alderetes and was completely unaware that a death had been reported for him. He was taken to a local police station to be interviewed while the body that had been presented as his was returned to the morgue to confirm its identity.

The body was later identified as Maximiliano Enrique Acosta, 28, from the nearby town of Delfín Gallo. But authorities had initially failed to return the correct body to his family, according to relatives. His brother, Hernán Acosta, said, 'Everything was wrong from the beginning. First, they handed over the body without proper identification. Then they made me go to the morgue twice. We shouldn't have to go through this after everything we suffered.' The family eventually received Acosta's remains, and a funeral for him was held in Delfín Gallo on Tuesday.

The Argentine Public Prosecutor's Office said it has opened an internal investigation to determine how the errors occurred and to prevent similar mix-ups in the future.