Shanks understood that some members of the public might have found it disturbing and reiterated that it would not happen again.
"It can be upsetting to members of the public, the funeral home is looking at it very seriously and that's all we can do at this stage, she said.
"Obviously no one wants to lose anything in the middle of an intersection, let alone a stretcher out the back.
"I know that the company that is involved is looking at their policies and process and implementing additional training on top of what they already do, to ensure that this doesn't happen again," Shanks said.
The reason it looks like a body was inside was because of a pillow and metal bar, managing director of Davis Funerals Craig Little said.
"We have a vinyl square pillow to lay people's head and at the foot-end of that stretcher there is a metal bar that can look like people's feet," he told the Herald.
In 2015, a similar event happend in Papatoetoe. Shanks admitted that this sort of thing happens "occasionally".
"It was a basic human error, but the most important thing is that we believe it won't happen again.
"It was a very unfortunate incident and I know the funeral home is looking at it very seriously," she said.
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