Four Chinese nurses have been suspended after they disposed of a live premature baby in a toilet, mistakenly believing it was a stillborn.

Authorities in Guangdong province, in southern China, are investigating the incident, which happened on October 26 at the Nanhai Red Cross Hospital in Foshan city, Agence France Press reported.

Foshan's Nanhai district is the same area where a two year old girl made international headlines after she was killed during a double hit and run at a market last month.

Read more on GlobalPost: Soul-searching in China after toddler's death

In a statement sent to AFP, the Nanhai district health bureau said 23-year-old Liu Dongmei, who was eight months pregnant, had been rushed to hospital suffering internal bleeding and cramps.

After an emergency birth, medical workers found the baby boy was not breathing, and that its skin had turned purple.

The team thought the baby was dead, and disposed of it – after informing Dongmei and her husband that the baby was a girl, believing this would lessen the pain of the news of the stillbirth.

Around 30 minutes after birth, Liu's sister-in-law asked to see the body. The Foshan News website said she was handed a yellow plastic bag containing the baby – and found it was still alive, Agence France Press reported.

"I opened the plastic bag and saw the baby's hands and feet moving, the stomach was going up and down and air bubbles were coming out of his mouth."

The baby, which was “crying very faintly”, was rushed to intensive care, where he remains in stable condition, the Shanghaiist reported.

The news site said a video of a nurse bringing the baby back from the toilet has gone viral on the internet.