A man who was thought to be dead and spent almost three hours in a freezing morgue came back to life moments before he was about to be cremated.

Rohitash, 45, is said to have shocked onlookers when he began breathing as he was about to be burned on a crematorium pyre in Jhunjhunu City in Rajasthan state, India, on November 21.

Footage shows the live but seemingly catatonic man wrapped in a blanket surrounded by stunned onlookers. An ambulance was summoned to take him to the Rajkiya Bhagwan Das Khetan (BDK) Hospital.

Officials explained the mistake to local media by claiming that bungling medics had simply skipped the post-mortem examination which would have confirmed the patient was deceased.

Jhunjhunu Police Superintendent Sharad Chouodhary said: 'The man did not have any relatives present when he initially arrived at the hospital. His condition worsened and there were no signs of life.

'The doctors were supposed to do a post-mortem examination but they did not do anything. They just fulfilled the paper formalities and sent the man for cremation. When the body was placed on the pyre, he woke up.'

Officials said the patient, a mute and deaf orphan staying at a local shelter, had fallen critically ill on November 20. He was taken to the BDK Hospital, but doctors declared him dead after his condition kept deteriorating.

He was reportedly kept for several hours in a cold mortuary before the funeral rites. Once he was taken outside, he began breathing and opened his eyes before being rushed back to hospital for urgent treatment.

Police said the principal medical officer and three doctors involved in the case have been suspended over the alleged negligence.

Local media reported that Rohitash died early November 22 morning while undergoing emergency treatment in the ICU of BDK Hospital.