This is the ‘miraculous’ moment a self-proclaimed prophet supposedly brings a ‘dead man’ back to life.
South African pastor Alph Lukau lays his hands on a body lying inside an open casket, before the man suddenly, and quite dramatically, jumps to his feet.
Within hours the hashtag #ResurrectionChallenge was trending on Twitter as people shared their own ‘revival’ attempts alongside screenshots of Lukau’s ‘miracle’.
Unfortunately for Lukau, his viral ‘resurrection’ spectacularly backfired as it emerged three funeral companies are now reportedly suing him for reputational damage.
Kingdom Blue, Kings & Queens Funeral Services and Black Phoenix all told local media in South Africa that they were manipulated by Lukau’s church Alleluia Ministries International.
Kings & Queens said they were approached by ‘alleged family members of the deceased’ who allegedly said they had a dispute with another funeral provider.
They said they were tricked into giving them a hearse by Lukau’s representatives who allegedly placed stickers from Black Phoenix on their private car to appear credible.
‘As Kings and Queens Funeral Services, we would like to distance ourselves from the supposed resurrection,’ the company wrote in a statement.
‘We are in the process of taking legal action for this malicious damage to our image.’
By Tuesday the Allelulia church had distanced itself from the incident, telling local media that ‘it was not a resurrection miracle’.
The church has declined to comment on criticism that it deceived worshippers, the Sowetan newspaper said.
Lukau’s ‘resurrection’ sparked a social media craze as users took to the web mimicking his ‘miraculous powers’.
One joker shared a picture of himself sitting up in the bath with a look of surprise, under the caption ‘My alarm just resurrect me to wake up’.
Dikano Sino posted a video of a class of schoolchildren being magically reanimated by a teacher.
