A pulse was found by mortuary staff when his family arrived to identify him XiXinXing/Getty Images 
 
 A man declared dead after being hit by a car spent a day in a mortuary fridge in South Africa before staff discovered that he was still alive. 
 
 Msizi Mkhize, 28, was walking home with a friend when he was hit in KwaMashu, a township north of the coastal city of Durban, last week. 
 
 He was declared dead at the scene of the accident before being taken to the Phoenix mortuary, where his body was placed in a fridge. 
 
 “When his family arrived for identification purposes, a pulse was found in the patient by mortuary staff, who then immediately transported him to Mahatma Gandhi hospital for resuscitation,” Imran Keeka, a provincial official for the opposition Democratic Alliance party, said yesterday. 
 
 Mr Mkhize was resuscitated by… ||||| The KwaZulu-Natal department of health said on Friday it had launched a full investigation into the matter of a car accident victim who was found alive inside a refrigerator in one of its mortuaries after he had been declared dead earlier this week. 
 
 The investigation comes after 28-year-old Msizi Mkhize from KwaMashu Township was found to be alive in a refrigerator at the Phoenix mortuary on Tuesday morning when his family went to view the body. 
 
 Mkhize was hit by a car while walking home with a friend on Monday evening and was declared dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) paramedics and taken to the mortuary. 
 
 However, a pulse and breathing efforts were discovered in Mkhize by mortuary staff, who then immediately transported him to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, adjacent to the morgue, for resuscitation. Mkhize died about five hours later. 
 
 Head of KZN health department Dr Sifiso Mtshali confirmed the incident and said they had launched an internal inquiry into the matter. 
 
 “The department can confirm that an internal enquiry is under way regarding this matter,” Mtshali said. 
 
 “Without prejudice, the department would like to state that the passing away of any individual(s) is a painful experience. To this end, the department would like to express condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.” 
 
 Mkhize’s family was reported to be seeking answers from the department as to how the blunder occurred and whether his life could have been saved if he had been taken to hospital earlier. 
 
 The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) spokesperson on health in KZN and a general practitioner, Dr Rishigen Viranna, called for an urgent and extensive investigation into the Mkhize matter by the provincial health department. 
 
 He said the incident took place while the DA was conducting an oversight visit at the Mahatma Gandhi hospital on Tuesday. 
 
 Despite a five-hour period of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and warming process by doctors, nurses and staff, Mkhize died. 
 
 “The DA has written to the hospital management to commend the efforts of the staff to attempt resuscitation. Despite staff shortages, they tried their best to resuscitate the patient, with some even staying on after their shifts had ended to assist,” Viranna said. 
 
 “This horrific event has again highlighted the extreme shortcomings within the KZN health department’s EMRS and mortuary services.” 
 
 Last month, the DA gave KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo a score of 1/10 in its annual scorecard rating the performance of the province’s MECs, saying he was not wielding any power in his department and that was compromising the province’s public healthcare system. ||||| Durban – A KwaMashu man who was declared dead at an accident scene on Monday night and taken to a Phoenix mortuary, was found breathing the next day when his family went to view his body. 
 
 Shocked mortuary staff rushed Msizi Mkhize, 28, to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, but he died about five hours later. 
 
 Now, Mkhize’s family want answers to how the blunder occurred and whether his life could have been saved if he was taken to hospital earlier. 
 
 Mkhize was hit by a car while walking home with a friend on Monday evening, according to his sister, Hlobisile. 
 
 He was allegedly declared dead at the scene by paramedics. 
 
 The incident took a dramatic turn on Tuesday morning when the family went to the mortuary to view the body, The morgue’s employee found the 28-year-old still alive in the refrigerator. 
 
 His family believe the paramedics were negligent. 
 
 “We want to know who declared him dead. Is that person experienced enough to handle and make decisions in such situations?” asked Hlobisile. 
 
 “This is painful and stressful for the family to establish that our brother and son had spent the night in the morgue,” she said. 
 
 “Somewhere, somehow someone did not do their job. We want a full explanation from all concerned,” she said. 
 
 Her father, Peter Mkhize, told the Daily News last night the family was traumatised. 
 
 “I have no words to express how I feel about what happened to my child. To spend the entire night and morning in the mortuary refrigerator is wrong. 
 
 “We arrived there at 8am to do the paperwork and view the body of my child. It was after 12pm when an employee told one of the doctors my son was alive. 
 
 “That day will forever be etched in my mind. Allow us as a family to bury our son and thereafter we can sit down and talk about our experience in detail,” he appealed. 
 
 Provincial police spokeswoman, Colonel Thandeka Mbhele, confirmed the incident. 
 
 Dr Rishigen Viranna, a general practitioner and DA MPL, on Wednesday called for a full investigation into the “horror incident at Durban’s Phoenix mortuary”. 
 
 Viranna witnessed the resuscitation process. 
 
 He commended the casualty staff for their almost five-hour attempt to resuscitate Mkhize. 
 
 He said the family had received “extensive counselling” at the hospital throughout the entire process. 
 
 “There is a concept in emergency medicine care known as the ‘Golden Hour’, where after trauma a patient has the best chance of good outcome if hospital or medical treatment is received within the first hour. 
 
 “This did not occur in this case. However, the true cause of death will be determined after a post-mortem has been completed,” he said. 
 
 He said the incident had highlighted the “extreme shortcomings” within the provincial Health Department’s EMRS and mortuary services. 
 
 Health Department head, Dr Sifiso Mtshali, said: “The department cannot comment at this stage, as it is still gathering the facts regarding this matter.” 
 
 Daily News
– It's the kind of story you'd hope would have a miraculously happy ending, but it wasn't to be in South Africa. Last Monday evening, 28-year-old Msizi Mkhize was struck by a car in Durban and pronounced dead at the scene, reports the Times of London. He was transferred to the local morgue and placed in the facility's refrigerator—only to be discovered alive the next day, when his family came to identify the body. "A pulse was found in the patient by mortuary staff," says a provincial official. Mkhize was rushed to the hospital, but he died five hours later. Police and health officials have confirmed the story and say a formal inquiry is underway to figure out how the awful mistake happened. “We arrived there at 8am to do the paperwork and view the body of my child," Mkhize's father tells the local Daily News. "It was after 12pm when an employee told one of the doctors my son was alive." Doctors began an intensive effort to warm and resuscitate Mkhize's body, but it was ultimately unsuccessful, reports the Citizen. One official says staffers stayed beyond their shifts to help. “I have no words to express how I feel about what happened to my child," says Mkhize's father. "To spend the entire night and morning in the mortuary refrigerator is wrong." (This is not a first.)