Morgue workers were in for a surprise when the ‘dead’ man they were about to cremate suddenly woke up.
The man, named only as Rohitash, 45, is said to have shocked onlookers when he began breathing as he was about to be burned in a crematorium in Jhunjhunu City, India, on November 21.
Footage showed Rohitash wrapped in a blanket, opening his eyes and looking dazed.
An ambulance was quickly called to take him to Rajkiya Bhagwan Das Khetan (BDK) Hospital, where he later died.
Officials blamed the mistake on medics, who allegedly skipped the post-mortem examination which would have confirmed the patient was deceased.
Jhunjhunu Police Superintendent Sharad Chouodhary said: ‘The man did not have any relatives present when he initially arrived at the hospital. His condition worsened and there were no signs of life.’
‘The doctors were supposed to do a post-mortem examination but they did not do anything,’ he added.
‘They just fulfilled the paper formalities and sent the man for cremation. When the body was placed on the pyre, he woke up.’
Officials said the patient, a mute and deaf man staying at a local shelter, had fallen critically ill on November 20.
He was taken to the BDK Hospital, but doctors declared him dead after his condition kept deteriorating.
He was reportedly kept for several hours in a cold mortuary before the funeral rites.
Police said the principal medical officer and three doctors involved in the case have been suspended over the alleged negligence.
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A similar incident happened in Kenya, when a man who was declared dead by doctors woke up three hours later while workers prepared his body in a morgue.
The man was immediately transferred to the hospital mortuary where he was prepared to be embalmed by morgue attendants.
As part of the process of preserving the body, one of the workers reportedly made an incision on the man’s right leg to infuse chemicals – when he suddenly regained consciousness and began to wail in pain.
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