The family of Mr. Đinh Hữu Trí in Phú Lộc hamlet, Phú Thạnh commune, Phú Tân district, An Giang, has been preserving a mummified corpse for over 36 years. Despite being kept in a normal environment without any chemical embalming, the body shows no signs of decomposition.
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| The mummified body of Mr. Hạo placed in the house (Photo: SHVN) |
The mummified body belongs to Mr. Đinh Công Hạo, the older brother of Mr. Trí. Mr. Hạo was born in 1951 and fell ill at the age of 10, struggling to eat and sleep, gradually deteriorating. Doctors from both Eastern and Western medicine at that time examined him but shook their heads in despair. At the end of 1968, Mr. Đinh Công Hạo took his last breath and was buried in a field not far from the house. Three days later, a traditional healer visited the family. Upon hearing Mr. Đinh Công Bửu (Mr. Hạo’s father) recount his son’s illness, the healer expressed regret for not arriving sooner and believed that Mr. Hạo was not dead, urging the family to dig him up.
Half-hearted but driven by immense hope, Mr. Bửu decided to exhume his son. When the coffin was opened, everyone saw that the corpse still looked fresh, as if it were merely asleep. The body was brought home and placed on a bamboo bed covered with a cloth.
Mr. Đinh Công Trí recalls: “I was 13 at the time. When my father brought Mr. Hạo’s body home, many people came to see it. The authorities were notified, and they sent a team of five doctors, including one American doctor, to examine the body. They all shook their heads and left, stating that he was indeed dead, but they could not explain why the body had not decomposed or emitted any foul odor. It was close to the Lunar New Year, so my father made a new coffin to place Mr. Hạo in, waiting for the doctors to return after the holiday.”
After the second autopsy, the doctors still could not provide any conclusions. The body has continued to dry out until today, and locals refer to it as the “dry corpse.” Mr. Bửu placed a layer of glass over the coffin so family members could see the deceased while offering incense. Currently, Mr. Hạo’s hair remains dark and smooth, while his hands have dried as if treated with some chemical substance.
Mr. Trí stated: “At that time, our family thought he was dead, so we buried him without considering preservation. For 36 years, we have not used any substances to embalm him; we just left it as it is, and even the internal organs were not removed.” Mr. Trí also noted that since the reunification, no researcher or scientific organization has come to inquire about Mr. Hạo’s mummified corpse.
Mr. Nguyễn Phú Cường, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phú Thạnh commune, said: “The local government has known for a long time that there is a dry corpse in Mr. Trí’s house, but over the years, since there have been no environmental or health issues, and the family has not shown any signs of superstition, we have not reported it. If any governmental agency requests to examine Mr. Hạo’s body for scientific purposes, the authorities are ready to persuade the family to cooperate.”
