Buried Alive For Twelve Days And Claims Record

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 27, 1 December 1950, Page 7

Buried Alive For Twelve Days And Claims Record

A man in Germany who was buried alive for 12 days has emerged to claim a world record. The fellow is talking through his hat, and the best thing he can do is to go and get buried for a couple of months if he wants to start claiming records. Maybe, though, there are amateur and professional “burial alivers.”

Certain folk, in India have made a corner in being buried alive. There was a fakir in India a year or so before World War II who had allowed himself to be buried alive for 40 days and came up almost smiling. For days before the event he lived on a scanty diet of milk. On the day of burial he swallowed 30 yards of linen about two inches wide. He promptly ’pulled it up again, saying that it was to clean his stomach. Then he sat on a linen sheet and plugged himself with wax. Lastily he rolled back his tongue so that it stopped the entry of air down his throat. Witnesses wrapped the apparently unconscious body in a shroud. These witnesses included the Maharajah Runjet Singh, Sir Claude White, Captain Osborne and an English doctor. The fakir was placed in a coffin and buried three feet under the ground. Wheat seeds were scattered on the surface to make sure that there was no tampering with the grave. A high wall was built round the spot and two companies of soldiers were stationed round the wall. The guard was changed every two hours. A report on the condition of the wall was made twice a day. Forty days later this wall was closely inspected. The wheat had started to sprout. The coffin was exhumed. The seal on it was unbroken. The seal on the shroud was also found to be unbroken. The fakir was found lying in the same position as when he was put there, except that his head now lolled over on his shoulder. His skin had changed colour. His heart was not beating and he was very cold. His servants rubbed his limbs. Oil was rubbed into his eyes. The wax plugs were removed. His tongue was pulled into place and a hot wheaten cake Was placed on his head. The fakir started to shake all over, his eyes opened, he began to breathe. Colour came back to his wasted limbs, he spoke and raised himself out of his coffin.