Disturbing video footage has emerged of a buried man being dragged out of a grave after a mourner realised he was still alive when she heard him struggling to get free.

Footage obtained by Brazil's Record TV appears to show paramedics and emergency services scraping dirt of the man's body before pulling him out of a grave, which was partly filled with earth, in the Ferraz de Vasconcelos area of Sao Paulo.

The woman is understood to have made the discovery while visiting the grave of a relative about a week ago.

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It remains unclear as to how he ended up in the grave, but reports suggest he may have been attacked and then dumped there.

The unidentified man was later admitted to hospital and treated for minor injuries. Sao Paulo State Health Service confirmed he had been seen by a doctor and a psychiatrist.