A 76-year-old had been pronounced dead by doctors and was later found to be alive after her son heard noises coming from her coffin.
According to sky news, the bizarre incident in the central city of Babahoyo has prompted a government investigation into the hospital where Bella Montoya was treated.
Mrs Montoya, a 76-year-old former nurse, was lifted out of her coffin and rushed back to hospital after the unfinished funeral on Friday.
Her relieved but shocked son Gilberto Barbera said: “It gave us all a fright.”
He added: “There were about 20 of us there…. After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds.
“My mum was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.”