A grave digger tried to cut the end off the coffin with a saw when he realised the grave was too small, and then when it still did not fit the family were made to wait 10 hours until night time so the grave could be enlarged.

The woman due to be buried was cook Maria de Lourdes Borges, who died aged 69 from COVID-19 after an 11-day battle in hospital.

When they realised the grave was not big enough for the coffin, staff at the cemetery sawed off part of the box before realising the hole in the ground was still too small to accommodate it.

The gravedigger then had to re-dig the hole, resulting in a 10-hour delay in the burial at the cemetery in the Brazilian municipality of Maurilandia on 30th April.

The bungle came despite the victim’s family having given the correct dimensions of the coffin to the local authorities, which administer the cemetery.

As a result of the hash, the burial, which was meant to take place at 1 pm, finally ended up going ahead at 11 pm in total darkness.

The deceased’s 27-year-old granddaughter, shopkeeper Betina Maria Martins Lopes, revealed that the original grave was 10 centimetres (3.9 in) shorter than the coffin.

She described the cock-up to news site G1 as “pure carelessness and embarrassment”.

The municipal authorities have since said they will open an inquiry into the case along with the cemetery’s gravedigger.

Maria de Lourdes passed away at 11 am on 30th April, having been admitted to hospital 11 days earlier with COVID-19.

After two days hospitalised in her hometown of Maurilandia, she was transferred to intensive care in Rio Verde, some 70 kilometres (43 mi) away.

Only a few relatives were present at her funeral, due to COVID-19 regulations.

Betina Maria told G1: “It was very tough, given what we were going through. What should have been sorted out in a few hours lasted longer than we could have imagined.