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The legend of the girl who was killed by a taco

Little is known about the statue at a tomb of a little girl eating a taco

The tombstone of María del Carmen, who choked to death on a taco (Photo: SILVIA HERNÁNDEZ. EL UNIVERSAL)
03/11/2016 |17:02
Redacción El Universal
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In the Campos del Recuerdo community cemetery in Chetumal, a small coastal city bordering Belize, there are many emblematic tombs such as the “Taco Girl” or “La niña del taco,” a girl who according to urban legend choked to death on a taco.

“Over the tomb's vault, sits the monument of a girl eating a taco; people leave toys and candy at the tomb, but nobody knows who's in charge of its upkeep,” said Manuel Carrillo Cupul, the funerary and cemetery coordinator for the Othón P. Blanco municipality in Quintana Roo.

According to urban legend, people say that the girl was just shy of turning two when she choked on a taco. Others say that her aunt poisoned the taco in an attempt to murder the girl's father, but tragically, the little girl ended up eating the taco by mistake.

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Another urban legend at the cemetery is that of María Chong, the Chinese-Mexican woman who people say lent her spot at the grave, as well as her coffin, to those less fortunate than her until she herself died.

Thousands of locals and tourists visit the Campos del Recuerdo cemetery every year for Day of the Dead.