Woman discovered alive inside mortuary refrigerator
A South African woman was mistakenly brought to the morgue and stored in a fridge after she was declared dead following a car accident.
The unnamed woman was discovered breathing by a morgue worker who was reportedly writing a report and checking on the body, according to TimesLive, a South African news site. The Distress Alert paramedics who brought her in said that she had shown “no form of life.” She is currently being treated at a hospital.
“There is no proof of any negligence by our crew,” Distress Alert operations manager Gerrit Bradnick told TimesLive. "This did not happen because our paramedics are not properly trained. Equipment used to determine life showed no form of life on the woman."
Two other people involved in the June 24 crash were dead, according to Bradnick.
This is the third time in recent years that an assumed deceased person was later found to be alive in South Africa, the BBC reported. In 2016, another person involved in an accident was declared dead but found breathing the next day. About seven years ago, a 50-year-old man woke up screaming in a morgue in Eastern Cape.
The local forensics team, Gauteng Forensic Pathology Service, is investigating the incorrect declaration made by Distress Alert.
