A premature baby, who had been proclaimed stillborn by doctors in northern Malaysia, turned out to be still alive, local press reported Monday.

Azmi Masiron, 26, was preparing for the funeral of his newborn baby girl at home in Kedah state when he noticed a movement from the baby placed on the funeral shroud.

The shocked father then called for an ambulance to take the baby back to the Jitra Hospital where his 28-year-old wife had given birth an hour earlier, the New Straits Times reported.

Earlier, just minutes after the delivery, doctors there informed Azmi his baby had died and told him to make the funeral arrangements.

The grieved father, who called his father-in-law to prepare for the burial, then took the baby home, who was wrapped in paper and covered with a sarong by the staff at the hospital. During the five-kilometer ride home to his village, the baby did not move.

"However, when my father-in-law placed the baby on the burial shroud, she suddenly moved, shocking about 200 villagers who had gathered for the funeral," Azmi told reporters Sunday.

Azmi said he planned to make a police report as he hoped this kind of incidents would not happen to other parents.

The premature baby, who weighed 330 grams, has been placed in an incubator at the pediatrics ward at the hospital.

The report said Kedah Health Department Director Hasnah Ismail, when contacted, said an investigation would be conducted but declined to elaborate.

Source: Xinhua