Deltanine

A MAN who was shot by police after kidnapping two children and then shipped off to be cremated was found to be alive by funeral workers who heard him groan. Zhang Kailin, 36, was shot at point-blank range and fell to the ground from a five-storey window ledge after a tense two-hour standoff at a school in central Hebei province, the Beijing Daily Messenger said. He had taken two children hostage and demanded ransom before police moved in.

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The paper said his body was put in a coffin and taken to a funeral home where it was to be refrigerated before being cremated. But funeral home workers heard a groan on opening the coffin and were shocked to find the man still alive. They rushed him to hospital. "This has never happened before. Workers were opening the coffin for a photo examination and heard the man groan," said the funeral home director surnamed Zhang. "We were shocked." Police in Shijiazhuang city refused to comment. There was no word on Zhang's condition nor whether the children were hurt.