Premature baby declared 'dead' found alive in morgue refrigerator

This is the emotional moment the parents of a premature baby declared dead realise he is actually alive.

The baby was born at just 23 weeks and survived six hours in a morgue refrigerator in Mexico, after being wrongly declared dead.

The baby was found breathing by undertakers who were about to hand the body over to his parents for the funeral, in La Margarita hospital, in Puebla.

Incredible footage shows the moment the baby's father realises he is still alive.

Crying while watching his premature newborn, the father can be heard urging his baby to stay strong.

The father can be heard pleading with his baby to "carry on fighting".

"Here I am. Carry on fighting, little one, resist my love," the new dad says, through tears.

"The boy's crying, he's still crying, he's alive. Poor boy, carrying on fighting tiny one," he continues.

The baby was found crying in a hospital morgue despite having been declared dead. Photo / Canal 13

"Please God, accompany this little one, stay with him because he's still alive."

Owner of the undertakers Funeraria Flores, Miguel Angel Flores, said he was shocked to find the baby alive when he went to the morgue to collect the body, only to find the baby "crying and moving".

"We called the father over and he also saw it was crying and so we got the doctor who had signed the death certificate to come urgently," Flores said.

"The baby was born just after 4am and was found alive around 10am so that's nearly six hours that it was in the morgue refrigerator.

"I can't understand how he didn't die while he was there. The fridge it was in is normally used to keep the limbs of amputees. I've never experienced anything like this before."

Local health officials have confirmed an investigation is underway.

The baby is in the hospital's intensive care unit.