Bucks County officials are investigating how a gurney, with what appeared to be a deceased person on it, fell out of a coroner’s vehicle and ended up on busy Street Road Friday afternoon.

County spokesman Chris Edwards confirmed there is an investigation into the incident, which happened in Lower Southampton around noon yesterday.

Jerry Bradley was waiting at the traffic light coming out of the shopping center that holds a Panera Bread and Starbucks when he saw the gurney come out of the green county-owned vehicle and end up in the lane of travel.

“At first I thought someone was pulling a prank, but traffic was just driving around,” Bradley told LevittownNow.com Saturday morning.

Bradley said it appeared there was a body in a bag and wrapped in a sheet strapped to the gurney. A photo snapped by the man appears to show just that.

“I helped a woman from the coroner’s office get it out of the road, as it appeared to be broken a little,” Bradley said.



Edwards confirmed that the first 9-1-1 call about the incident was made at 12:01 p.m.

The vehicle was headed toward the corner’s office in Ivyland when the gurney fell into the roadway.

Since happening, an image has gone viral on Facebook and a description of the incident on Reddit has appeared.

How the gurney was able to escape the back of the coroner’s office truck is unclear as of press time.

LevittownNow.com has reached out to the coroner’s office for further information, but their attempt at contact was not reciprocated.

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Update as of 7:29 p.m.

At approximately 12:00 p.m. on Friday, July 11, 2014, the Bucks County Coroner’s office realized that a rear door mechanical malfunction had taken place during the transport of a deceased individual on Street Rd. in Lower Southampton Twp. The driver immediately knew that this malfunction occurred. The driver of the transport vehicle returned to make the transport complete, with the help of a bystander and in a matter of moments. Care was taken to respect the deceased individual in this instance. The Bucks County Coroner’s Office deeply regrets this incident and will take steps to ensure that it is not repeated in the future.