Indian man found alive in morgue freezer dies five days later

Patient was in 'suspended animation' after organs temporarily stopped, investigation finds

A man in Uttar Pradesh who was thought to be dead was kept in a the freezer before his relatives were stunned to find him alive. AFP

A road crash victim in India who was mistakenly declared dead by doctors and woke up after seven hours in a morgue freezer has now died.

Srikesh Kumar had suffered critical injuries after a speeding motorbike hit him last Thursday and was declared dead at the state hospital in northern Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district.

His body was kept in a freezer before his relatives were stunned to find him alive, prompting a fresh scramble by medics to save him.

But the 45-year-old died late on Tuesday after battling for his life for five days at a hospital in the city of Meerut, where he was having treatment for injuries from the road crash.

“He died late Tuesday at the hospital after slipping into a coma due to a clot in the brain. He was on ventilator support and critical throughout,” Shiv Singh, Moradabad district medical officer, told The National.

Mr Kumar's brother Satyanand Gautam said he was showing signs of recovery during the treatment but died after a brain clot pushed him into a coma.

Viral video

His body was cremated according to Hindu rituals in his hometown late on Wednesday, said Mr Gautam, who has demanded action against the doctors for previously declaring his brother dead.

A viral video of Mr Kumar at the morgue showed his bewildered family members frantically calling for doctors' help after they found him breathing.

“He's not at all dead! He’s breathing. He’s trying to say something…..” Mr Kumar’s sister-in-law is heard saying in the video as the “body” lies on the autopsy table.

The family had come to identify his body and complete legal formalities before an autopsy could have been conducted and his remains handed over to them.

He was immediately moved to the emergency ward and a medical probe was ordered to find out if there was negligence.

Mr Singh said the initial investigation has revealed that the patient was in “suspended animation”, a medical state in which vital body organs temporarily cease to function, almost imitating death.

“We are still looking into the negligence allegations but so far we have found that it was a case of suspended animation,” he said.