Animals and humans may be buried alive intentionally (as a form of torture, murder or execution), voluntarily (as a stunt, with the intention to escape), accidentally (e.g. under rubble due to a disaster or collapse of a building or cave), or unintentionally (in the mistaken belief that the living person is in fact dead). Texas Funeral is the first album by Jon Wayne. ... Look up buried, alive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... For other uses, see Torture (disambiguation). ... Death Penalty World Map Color Key: Blue: Abolished for all crimes Green: Abolished for crimes not committed in exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war) Orange: Abolished in Practice Red: Legal Form of Punishment Execution of a soldier of the 8th Infantry at Prescott, Arizona, 1877 Execution... An under 16s motorbike display team perform a potentially dangerous stunt Freestyle & Stunt Show 2007 - Landrévarzec A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre or cinema. ... For other uses, see Death (disambiguation), Dead (disambiguation), or Death (band). ...

Physics and biology

Antoine Wiertz's painting of a man who was buried alive.

If interment (burial) is not reversed within a short period, it rapidly leads to death, usually through one or more of the following: asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation, or (in cold climates) exposure. Although human survival may be briefly extended in some environments as body metabolism slows, in the absence of air, loss of consciousness will take place within 2 to 4 minutes and death by asphyxia within 5 to 15 minutes. Permanent brain damage through oxygen starvation is likely after a few minutes, even if the person is rescued before death. If fresh air is accessible in some way, survival is more likely to be on the order of days (in the absence of serious injury). Image File history File links Wiertz_burial. ... Image File history File links Wiertz_burial. ... Asphyxia is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body. ... Dehydration (hypohydration) is the removal of water (hydro in ancient Greek) from an object. ... This article is about extreme malnutrition. ... Look up exposure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Structure of the coenzyme adenosine triphosphate, a central intermediate in energy metabolism. ...

A person trapped with air to breathe can thus last a considerable time, and burial has been used as a very cruel method of execution, lasting sufficiently long for the victim to comprehend and imagine every stage of what is happening (being trapped in total darkness with very limited or no movement) and to experience great psychological and physical torment including panic and extreme claustrophobia. Panic is the primal urge to run and hide in the face of imminent danger. ... Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. ...

Unintentional

At least one report of accidental burial goes back to the 13th century. Revivals have been triggered by dropped coffins, grave robbers, embalming, and attempted dissections. Fearing premature burial, George Washington, on his deathbed, made his servants promise not to bury him until three days after his death.^{[citation needed]} Patients in the 1990s have been documented as accidentally being bagged, trapped in a steel box, or sent to the morgue.^[1] George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ... Mortuary, a film directed by Tobe Hooper, see Mortuary (film). ...

Count Karnice-Karnicki of Belgium patented a rescue device in 1897, which mechanically detected chest movement to trigger a flag, lamp, bell, and fresh air. Along similar lines, in Great Britain various systems were developed to save those buried alive, including breakable glass panels in the coffin lid and pulley systems which would raise flags on the surface (without air supply, as in the Italian model, this naturally would be useless without vigilant guards above ground). In 1995, an Italian coffin manufacturer introduced a model with a beeper and intercom system. These are all examples of Safety coffins. Tabergers Safety Coffin employed a bell as a signaling device, for anybody buried alive. ...

As a means of execution

Vitalis of Milan being buried alive.

In ancient Rome a Vestal Virgin convicted of violating her vows of celibacy was "buried alive" by being sealed in a cave with a small amount of bread and water, ostensibly so that the goddess Vesta could save her should she have been truly innocent. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 682 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (3,692 × 3,247 pixels, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 682 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (3,692 × 3,247 pixels, file size: 2. ... Saint Vitalis of Milan, known as San Vitale in Italian, was an early Christian martyr. ... Image of a Roman Vestal Virgin In Ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins (sacerdos Vestalis), were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. ... Celibacy refers either to being unmarried or to sexual abstinence. ... Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology. ...

According to Christian tradition, a number of saints were martyred this way, including Saint Castulus^[2] and Saint Vitalis of Milan.^[3] For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Saint Castulus (d. ... Saint Vitalis of Milan, known as San Vitale in Italian, was an early Christian martyr. ...

The two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh (last Guru of the Sikhs), aged between seven and nine years, were buried alive in a brick-mortar masonry by the Muslim kings of India as a punishment for refusing to embrace Islam. A traditional portrait of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. ... A Sikh man wearing a turban The adherents of Sikhism are called Sikhs. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

In medieval Italy, unrepentant murderers were buried alive. This practice is referred to in passing in canto XIX of Dante's Inferno. DANTE is also a digital audio network. ... For other uses see The Divine Comedy (disambiguation), Dantes Inferno (disambiguation), and The Inferno (disambiguation) Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino...

In the 17th and early 18th centuries in feudal Russia, the same mode of execution was known as "the pit" and used against women who were condemned for killing their husbands [1]. The last known case of this occurred in 1740.

Japanese soldiers buried alive Chinese civilians and captured prisoners of war during the Nanking Massacre.^[4] Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Rape of Nanking redirects here. ...

Voluntary burial

On rare occasions some people actually voluntarily arranged to be buried alive, reportedly as a demonstration of their controversial ability to survive such an event. In one story taking place around 1840, an Indian fakir is said to have been buried in the presence of an British military officer and under the supervision of the local maharajah, by being placed in a sealed bag in a wooden box in a vault. The vault was then interred, earth was flattened over the site, and crops were sown over the place for a very long time. The whole location was guarded day and night to prevent fraud, and the site was dug up twice in a ten-month period to verify the burial, before the fakir was finally dug out and slowly revived in the presence of another officer. The fakir said that his only fear during his "wonderful sleep" was to be eaten by underground worms. This event is highly suspicious as, according to current medical science, it is not possible for a human to survive for a period of ten months without food, water, and air. [2] A fakir or faqir (Arabic: فقیر poor) is a Sufi, especially one who performs feats of endurance or apparent magic. ... 1. ...

Since many who have tried this feat died as a result, being voluntarily buried alive is not legal in India.

In 2003, performer David Blaine underwent a burial within a tank of water, which allowed for above-ground viewing, for a duration of seven days. [3] Later on Blaine underwent a 44-day isolation, hanging in midair in a 7ft by 7ft by 3ft Perspex box in front of a live random street audience without food.[4] David Blaine (born David Blaine White on April 4, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) is an American illusionist and stunt performer. ... Perspex redirects here. ...

Being Buried Alive (2005, 2007): A performance staged several times by art group monochrom. People in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto had the opportunity to be buried alive in a real coffin for fifteen minutes. As a framework program monochrom members held lectures about the history of the science of determining death and the medical cultural history of "buried alive". monochrom members: (back) Johannes Grenzfurthner, Evelyn Fürlinger, Roland Gratzer; (front) Günther Friesinger, Franz Ablinger. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... For people named Coffin, see Coffin (surname). ...

Myths and legends

In an urban legend circulated by e-mail, The Bad Old Days claims that the English idiom “saved by the bell” originated in medieval rope systems to alert surface dwellers in the case of accidental burial. In fact, the phrase originated in the sport of boxing, and there is no evidence of a widespread fear of live burial in the Middle Ages.^{[citation needed]} Likewise, the term “dead ringer” has its origin in horse racing, and the unrelated phrase “graveyard shift” arose in the 20th century.^[5] An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... An idiom is an expression (i. ... For other meanings of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ...

The popular TV show, MythBusters, tested the myth to see if someone could survive being buried alive for two hours before being rescued. One host, Jamie Hynneman, tried it. However, due to the coffin bending under the stress of the dirt used to cover it, the experiment was prematurely aborted because of the danger of testing the myth. MythBusters is an American popular science television program on the Discovery Channel starring American special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use basic elements of the scientific method to test the validity of various rumors, urban legends and news stories in popular culture. ...

In popular culture

• Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story by this name
• The film The Candy Snatchers deals with a trio of criminals who kidnap an heiress and bury her alive as a means of holding her for ransom.
• In the film Sling Blade, the character Karl tells the story of his newborn brother’s premature burial.
• In Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill Vol. 2, Bill's brother, Budd gives Uma Thurman’s character, The Bride a “Texas Funeral”. She survives and escapes using her training from the great kung-fu master, Pai Mei.
• In the Coen Brothers’ film Blood Simple, the character Ray (John Getz) begins to bury his boss Marty (Dan Hedaya) under the pretense that Marty is, in fact, dead. However, after a startling physical confrontation, Ray continues to bury him alive, with success.
• Featured in multiple episodes of the television show CSI (most notably those directed by Quentin Tarantino).
• In the TV show Smallville, Chloe Sullivan is buried alive in the field, but is found by Clark Kent before suffocating to death.
• In one of the episodes in the fourth season of "Alias", Sydney Bristow is buried alive due to her mission of working with a double agent being compromised. She eventually loses consciousness due to lack of air, but is fortunately rescued when Marshall Flinkman shows up at the cemetery and digs her up in time.
• In a second-season episode of "Bones", Bones and Hodgins are buried alive by a serial kidnapper and are able to extend their survival time through scientific tricks and quick thinking.
• In the film Casino, Nicky Santoro and his brother Dominick are severely beaten and buried alive in a cornfield in Indiana.
• The movie Oxygen is based upon a rich businessman’s wife being buried alive by a man who demands a ransom in exchange for telling the location of the burial to the husband.
• In the daytime soap opera All My Children Greg Madden is buried alive in a coffin in a public park with an air tube & an ample supply of bottled water and energy bars for food, as he was meant simply to be tortured until revealing a secret. He does not die of asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation, or exposure (despite the fact that the coffin began to fill with water after a heavy rain) but rather is killed when an earthquake causes his coffin to cave in and crush him to death.
• In the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives, Vivian Alamain buried Carly Manning alive, and would taunt her via a speaker system.
• In the daytime soap opera Passions, Sheridan Crane was voluntarily buried alive as part of an effort to draw out the members of a French drug cartel that tried to have her killed. Her coffin had a power source, lighting, and oxygen, but her survival was imperiled when everyone else involved in the plan was held prisoner by the cartel. She was ultimately rescued, even though her coffin had been filled in with concrete, and her recovery was heralded as a Christmas miracle.
• On Law & Order April Troost buries her deformed baby alive.
• In one episode of Monk entitled "Mr. Monk vs. the Cobra," Monk was buried alive in a coffin, but he's found before he actually suffocates.
• The Hungarian movie Simon Mágus features a duel between Simon and a French magician, consisting of both being buried alive for three days.
• In a Tales from the Crypt comic, the narrator is buried alive, despite the fact that twice before he had arisen during previous funerals. He has a phone installed, but it is to no avail since all lines are cut during World War II.
• The 1990 film '83 Hours 'Til Dawn' is based on the 1968 true crime in which Barbara Jane Mackle was kidnapped and buried alive.
• A two hour episode of the television series Las Vegas featured Delinda Deline being buried alive to convince her father Ed to rob his own casino.
• In the Israeli show HaShir Shelanu (Our Song), the last episode of season 2 has Zohar buried alive by his murderers; they think they have killed him and attempt to dispose of the body but he wakes up after they leave.
• In the Black Sabbath song "Buried Alive".
• Otep's song Buried Alive is on the House of Secrets album
• At the end of the 1988 film The Vanishing, the male protagonist Rex Hofman is buried alive; however, in the 1993 remake, he escapes.
• In the Lost episode "Exposé", the characters Nikki and Paulo are buried alive. They were merely paralyzed from Medusa Spider bites, but were presumed dead.
• In the CSI episodes "Grave Danger Part 1 and Part 2" <5x23 and 5x24>, the character Nick Stokes is buried alive in the two-part season five finale, directed by Quentin Tarantino. After being eaten alive by fire ants, he puts his gun to his chin. The CSI team locate him, but find that the perspex box is on top of C4 explosive charges connected to pressure switches. This is overcome by the team, and Nick is rescued.
• In Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Cask of Amontillado,” the enemy of Montrésor, Fortunato, is walled up in his catacombs.
• A major plot point in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.
• In Sophocles' Antigone, the character of Antigone is sentenced to execution by being placed in a cave and having the doors covered with stones.
• Siouxsie and the Banshees' song Premature Burial from their 1979 album Join Hands
• In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and anime/manga, there is a Spell Card named Premature Burial. The artwork on the card depicts an un-dead man with his arm outstretched out of the ground (The Japanese art also depicts a red cross looming over the man, the English art depicting a magical circle with a flash of light in the middle)
• In the 1980s series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," one story involves a woman sent to prison for murder. While there, she befriends the prison morgue worker, and they concoct a plan to hide her in the coffin of the next inmate who dies, with the morgue worker digging her up later so she could escape. The night that happens, the woman sneaks into the coffin and is buried, and after waiting a long time strikes a match to see the body with her, and sees that it's the morgue worker.
• In "Jack in the Box", an episode of British crime drama Jonathan Creek, a man takes an overdose of sleeping pills and then seals himself up behind a wall in a locked bomb-shelter.
• In the TV series Heroes, the immortal Adam Monroe was buried alive in an unmarked grave, doomed to spend the rest of eternity trapped there.
• In the opera and succeeding play/musical Aida, both Aida and her lover, Radames, were buried alive together in a tomb under Egypt, their conviction being treason.
• In the anime/manga Inuyasha, a holy man named Hakushin is buried alive to save his people. However, he longs for life in this last moments; the villain Naraku uses this to sway Hakushin to his side.
• In the TV series Mission Impossible, Cinnamon Carter played by Barabara Bain, one of the regular nearly invincible regulars was subjected to confinement by one of the enemy as the chink in the armor of the Impossible Mission group.
• In the popular British soap opera Eastenders, Tanya Branning buried her husband Max Branning because he commited adultery with another woman.

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... The Premature Burial is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1850. ... This article is about the 1996 film. ... Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is a Palme dOr-winning American film director, actor, and an Oscar winning screenwriter. ... Kill Bill is the fourth film by writer-director Quentin Tarantino. ... Budd (played by Michael Madsen) is a fictional character in Quentin Tarantino film, Kill Bill. ... Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. ... The Bride is a 1985 film starring Sting, Jennifer Beals and Clancy Brown and is loosely based on Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. ... Pai Mei (Chinese: 白眉; Wade-Giles: Bai Mei; pinyin: Bái Méi; literally White Eyebrow) is a fictional character popularized in the west by Kill Bill (2004), a film by Quentin Tarantino. ... Joel and Ethan Coen, known as The Coen Brothers, are Oscar-winning American filmmakers. ... Blood Simple is a neo-noir film, the debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, writers and directors of Fargo, The Man Who Wasnt There, and Raising Arizona, among others. ... John Getz (b. ... Dan Hedaya Dan Hedaya is a prolific character actor who was born on July 24, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York to a Sephardic Jewish family. ... Smallville is an American television series created by writer/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and was initially broadcast by The WB. After its fifth season, the WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which is the current broadcaster for the show in the United States. ... Alias is an American SpyFi television series, created by J. J. Abrams. ... Bones is an American drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. ... Casino is a 1995 film directed by Martin Scorsese. ... For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Oxygen (disambiguation). ... All My Children (AMC) is a popular American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. ... Suffocation redirects here, for the band, see Suffocation (band). ... Dehydration (hypohydration) is the removal of water (hydro in ancient Greek) from an object. ... This article is about extreme malnutrition. ... This article is about the natural seismic phenomenon. ... Days of our Lives is an American soap opera, which has aired nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965[2] on the NBC network in the United States, and has since been syndicated to many countries around the world. ... For other uses, see Passion. ... This article is about the original television series. ... Monk is a U.S. television show about the private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). ... “Illusionist” redirects here. ... The original title, Crime Patrol. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... 83 Hours ‘Til Dawn a 1990 television movie Barbara Jane Mackle is an American heiress who was the victim of a notorious crime. ... Las Vegas is a dramatic comedy television series about a team of people working in the fictional Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas — dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and restaurant management to casino security. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... HaShir Shelanu (Our Song) is an Israeli daily comical musical drama that had finished its 3rd season airing on yes-5 Israeli Movie Channel (Arutz Hakolnoa Hayisraeli) and rerunning on Israel channel 2. ... For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ... OTEP is an alternative[1][2]/nu metal[1][2] band formed in 2000 in Los Angeles, California. ... House of Secrets is the second album by American band OTEP, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music). ... The Vanishing (Spoorloos) is a film directed by George Sluizer and produced by Anne Lordon and George Sluizer. ... LOST redirects here. ... List of Lost episodes Exposé[1] is the fourteenth episode of the third season of Lost. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Cask of Amontillado The Cask of Amontillado (sometimes spelled The Casque of Amontillado) is a short story, written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in the November 1846 issue of Godeys Ladys Book. ... For the Bronze Age culture, see Catacomb culture. ... The Fall of the House of Usher is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... This article is about the Greek tragedian. ... For other uses, see Antigone (disambiguation). ... Siouxsie and the Banshees are a British gothic rock band. ... Join Hands is the second album released by Siouxsie & the Banshees. ... Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Shonen Jump BANZAI! Shonen Jump Comics House Original run 1996 – March 2004 Volumes 38 volumes, with 343 total chapters TV anime: Yu-Gi-Oh! Director Various Studio Toei Animation Network TV Asahi Original run April 4, 1998 – October 10, 1998 Episodes 27 TV anime: Yu... Jonathan Creek is a British mystery television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. ... Heroes is an American science fiction serial drama television series created by Tim Kring. ... Adam Monroe, also known as Takezo Kensei ) in feudal Japan, is a fictional character portrayed by David Anders in the NBC science fiction drama Heroes. ... This article is about the opera. ... InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale redirects here. ... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ... For the Buddhist underworld, see Naraka (Buddhism). ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985[4] and continuing to date. ... Tanya Branning (nee: Cross) is a fictional character in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. ... Max Branning is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. ...

See also

• List of premature obituaries
• Lazarus phenomenon

Various notable people have had their death announced in error. ... The Lazarus Phenomenon is the unexpected return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after resuscitation has been abandoned. ...

External Links

• Article detailing real-life case

References

1. ^ "Just Dying to Get Out", snopes.com, 9 June 1999
2. ^ Castulus (Kastulus) - Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon
3. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Vitalis
4. ^ BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Scarred by history: The Rape of Nanjing
5. ^ The Bad Old Days - The Dead