Residents of Omdurman, Sudan, were stunned after a man believed dead turned up alive two days after his funeral. The family of Abd al-Azim had received the body of an unconscious man brought to Al-Nou Hospital in Omdurman, and a relative identified it as the missing family member. After that, the family completed the burial process, including shrouding, funeral prayers and interment at Ahmed Sharfi cemetery, while neighbors and relatives offered condolences.
According to a hospital staff member, the surprise came two days later when Abd al-Azim suddenly appeared walking through the Arab neighborhood of Omdurman, turning mourning into confusion and amazement. His return raised an immediate question, if Abd al-Azim was alive, who had been buried?
Hospital statements later said the man buried was not Abd al-Azim but Ibrahim al-Saeed Idris. The mistake became understandable only after it emerged that the two men were remarkably similar, both were in their sixties, both were unmarried, and neither carried identification papers or a mobile phone. That lack of documents led to the mistaken identification.
When the truth emerged, the story shifted from astonishment to sorrow for Ibrahim’s family, who had believed they finally had an answer about their missing relative, only to learn that he had already been buried by a crowd mourning the wrong man.
