Declared dead after a car accident‚ a Gauteng woman was discovered alive inside a mortuary fridge by forensic officers.

The mis-declaration by Distress Assist ambulance service paramedics is being investigated by the Gauteng health department‚ according to Gauteng Forensic Pathology Services CEO Dr Paul Morule.

A Carletonville mortuary source said his colleagues had loaded the bodies into the fridges and were filling in forms‚ when one returned to check on them. “When he pulled out the woman’s body‚ he saw that she was breathing.”

Distress Alert operations manager Gerrit Bradnick confirmed that their paramedics had declared the woman dead. He said they followed all the protocols to check for life‚ including looking for signs of a pulse and breathing. “Equipment used to determine life showed no form of life on the woman.”

“This did not happen because our paramedics are not properly trained. There is no proof of any negligence by our crew‚” he said.