It was their first ever autopsy, but students at one of Sweden's top medical schools were faced with a familiar sight in the classroom: the body on the table belonged to their late teacher.

"The first autopsy is really, really emotional, and we autopsied someone we knew!," one of the shocked students told news agency TT on Friday.

"I feel something in the routines went a bit wrong," said another.

Chief physician Birgitta Sundelin called the event "extremely unfortunate".

She said that students were normally informed ahead of time of whose body they were to examine and that it was also the case this time.

But according to a student, the class did not find out until they saw their teacher's name on the body's toe tag.

The head of the department, Tina Dalianis, said she regretted the incident, but added the students needed to learn the tricks of the trade.

"It's terrible, but it's part of education sometimes. Unfortunately they have to deal with it," she said.

- AFP