South African motor bike crash victim found alive in morgue

[December 19, 2016]    JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African motorcyclist declared dead at the scene of an accident was found alive in a morgue fridge the next day when his family went to identify his body, but he died later in hospital.

The victim, who was not identified, was injured in a smash on Monday evening on a road in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, and was transferred to the morgue in Durban.

The next morning, however, mortuary staff detected a pulse and breathing and rushed him to hospital, where doctors and nurses managed to resuscitate and warm him, but he later died, according to a health department official.

Kwa-Zulu Natal health authorities said they had launched an investigation into the incident.

"The passing away of any individual is a painful experience," a provincial health department statement said. "The department can confirm that an internal inquiry is under way."

(Reporting by Ed Cropley; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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