Man Buried Alive After Passing Out During Ceremony Says He Was Offered As A Sacrifice To Mother Earth

A 30-year-old Bolivian man claims he was offered up as a human sacrifice and buried alive after passing out at a ceremony dedicated to the Toba people of South America.

Víctor Hugo Mica Álvarez said he only realized that he was buried alive when he woke up to pee in the middle of the night.

The incident reportedly happened on Aug. 1, when Alvarez was attending the Mother Earth festival in El Alto, Bolivia, where indigenous groups gather to worship the goddess Pachamama by making offerings to her.

Alvarez said he was invited by a friend to have a few beers at the ceremony, but realized that he was given as a sacrifice to Mother Earth when he woke up to pee in the middle of the night and found himself inside a coffin.

"We've gone dancing, I'm the guide, and I don't remember anymore. The only thing I remember is that I thought I was in my bed and I got up to go pee, and I couldn't move anymore," Alvarez told local media.

Alvarez said he had to break the coffin and dig through the sand to get out.

"And when I pushed the coffin I barely broke the glass and, through the glass, dirt began to enter and so I managed to get out. I have been buried," Alvarez said.

He then asked a nearby person for help, and was brought to a police station, reports said.

However, the cops did not buy his strange story, telling him he was still drunk — and ordered him to go home and sober up.

That’s when Alvarez decided to share his story with local media.

In the pictures taken by the press, Alvarez can be seen bloodied and bruised in the aftermath of his alleged death escape.

Alvarez repeated that he was not a hoaxer, declaring: "They wanted to use me as a sullu."

A "sullu" is any item offered up to the goddess, with sweets, medicinal plants, eggs, and minerals commonly handed over, according to local media reports.