This story reads like something you'd see on the Twilight Zone. The fact that it really happened shows that too often, truth really is stranger than fiction.

A woman in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has been killed in a tragic accident. But it wasn't a car that struck down the 67-year-old. It was a coffin - carrying the remains of her husband.

Marciana Barcelos was in the front passenger seat of a hearse on her way to her spouse's funeral when the vehicle suddenly came to a screeching halt in a traffic mishap, hurling the coffin at high speeds into the back of her neck.

It struck her with such force that the blow was instantly fatal.

Barcelos was on her way to bury her 76-year-old husband, who had died on Sunday from a heart attack while dancing at a party. The driver of the hearse and the victim's son suffered only minor injuries.

There's no word on whether the funeral took place, but now a family already mired in terrible tragedy will be planning a second one.