This is the shocking moment an injured man is spotted inside a grave amid reports he had been attacked, thrown into the plot and left for dead.

Police say the long-haired man had been thrown in to the tomb at a cemetery and its lid sealed tight, presumably in an attempt to kill him.

Fortunately visitors to a nearby grave spotted bloodstains on the casket and thought the tombstone had been tampered with so called in police.

Officers and cemetery staff were alerted but what looked like a possible act of vandalism proved to be an attempted murder, according to police.

Firemen removed the heavy cover, and found a man lying inside severely injured.

The man, who was only identified by his initials VSFM, is a 33-year-old local.

He was taken to a nearby hospital and is in a stable condition.

The incident happened at the Caju Cemetery in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, 280 kilometres (174 miles) away from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Police have launched an attempted murder investigation. Watch video of the man being pulled out.