Argentine Baby Found Alive in Morgue 12 Hours After Being Declared Dead

A premature Argentine baby has been found alive in a hospital morgue 12 hours after she was pronounced dead and placed in a coffin for burial.

The mother, Analia Bouter, was told her baby, who was three months premature, was stillborn by doctors at the Perrando de Resistencia hospital in northern Argentina.

When she and her husband, Fabion Veron, went to the hospital morgue 12 hours later, they opened the coffin and found their daughter was still alive.

Authorities have said that despite spending 12 hours in the refrigerated room, the child did not need resuscitation and is in a stable condition.

The parents have named the girl Luz Milagros - which means light miracles - because of the way she was born, according to the BBC.

Bouter told the Argentine TV channel Todo Noticias (TN) that she thought she was hallucinating when she looked at her infant in the morgue drawer and heard a whimper and saw signs of life.

Bouter said doctors told her "nobody knows how she could have survived 12 hours in a refrigerated room".

The incident took place on 3 April but has only just been made by public by health officials. The hospital issued a death certificate saying the baby had died of unknown causes, Bouter said.

Rafael Sabatinelli, deputy health secretary of Chaco province, where the hospital is located, said authorities were investigating the incident.

Bouter has reportedly told TN that she is planning legal action. The channel also reported that five medical staff have been suspended from the hospital over the incident.