A South African man is rescued from a morgue fridge, alive less than 24 hours after being presumed dead by his family.

Morgue owner Ayanda Maqolo called the police after his staff heard shouts for help coming from the morgue’s refrigerated compartment.

They thought it was a ghost, Mr Magolo said.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he added. “I was also scared. But they are my employees and I had to show them I wasn’t scared, so I called the police.”

After the police arrived, the group entered the morgue together.

“I was glad they had their firearms, in case something wanted to fight with us,” Mr Maqolo said.

The man was rescued 21 hours after his family called an undertaker to collect his body. They thought he had died after suffering an asthma attack.

His body was collected by the morgue driver. “When he got there, the driver examined the body, checked his pulse, looked for a heartbeat, but there was nothing,” Mr Maqolo said.

However, the man said he could hear everything but was unable to move or speak.

“When they picked me up from where I was, I could hear them all the time, but I couldn’t say a thing,” he said.

“They called the ambulance, they called the morgue vehicle. Yes I saw the vehicle but I couldn’t say anything,” he added.

He told reporters he was unable to move his hands at the time. “They closed this one eye, saying that I was dead,” he said.

The man, who has not been named and is thought to be around 80 years old, was pale when they pulled him out.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for observation and later discharged by doctors who found him stable.

His family, who were in the midst of planning his funeral, were told of his survival.