Health authorities in Shangqiu, Henan province, will launch an investigation into a case in which a hospital misdiagnosed a premature baby as a stillbirth, leading the infant to suffer from cerebral damage.

Henan radio and television station reported on Sunday morning that a resident, surnamed Xu, and his wife, who was 26 weeks pregnant, consulted with doctors at the First People's Hospital of Shangqiu during a checkup.

According to the checkup results, her womb was infected, so an immediate Caesarean section was suggested.

When the operation was completed, the physician said the baby boy was stillborn.

Xu told the doctor he wanted to take his son's body home and bury him, so the doctor gave him a yellow bag containing the child's body.

Just as Xu walked out of the hospital, the child squirmed in the bag and burst out crying. Xu immediately opened the bag and found the child's body was purple but his hands and feet were moving. He hurriedly took the child back to the hospital for treatment.

Because of this misdiagnosis, the child was in the bag for more than two hours, causing hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency, in the brain, which led to severe cerebral damage.

In response to the misdiagnosis, the physician claimed he was not wrong because the child's expected survival rate was originally very low.

The incident soon sparked public outcry on the internet.

On Tuesday, Henan's Health Commission released a statement saying it will set up an investigation team to probe the matter.

In accordance with laws and regulations, they will also help both the hospital and Xu's family to properly resolve the medical dispute through a local mediation committee, judicial appraisal and other legal approaches.