Dead baby left on road after falling from funeral car roof

A private funeral contracting service has been suspended after the body of an infant was left on the side of a Coast road and found by workers after it fell from the roof of a vehicle transporting bodies to Brisbane morgue.

The body of a baby was reportedly found in Sunshine Coast road works after it fell from the top of a car roof transporting bodies to a Brisbane morgue.

THE body of an infant was left on the side of the road on the Sunshine Coast and found by workers after it fell from the roof of a vehicle transporting bodies from Rockhampton to a morgue in Brisbane.

UPDATE:  A PRIVATE funeral contracting service has been suspended while Queensland Health investigate an incident where the body of a baby was found on the side of the road after being left on the roof of a vehicle.

A spokesperson from Queensland Health said while it was not responsible for the incident, investigations were underway.

"This is an incredibly distressing incident," a spokesperson said.

"We have spoken with the family to explain what happened, support them and to apologise.

"This transport was not undertaken by Queensland Health but by a licenced private funeral contractor. Queensland Health has already begun a process to fully investigate the contractor's actions, so that nothing like this ever happens again.

"We have suspended use of the contracted service while the matter is investigated."

The Daily understands the body was mistakenly left on the vehicle's roof after a driver transfer on the Coast.

It was not until the vehicle arrived at the John Tonge Centre in Brisbane that anyone realised the body of the infant was missing.

Roadworkers who discovered the body are reported to be traumatised by the incident.

They called police and the Sunshine Coast Criminal Investigation Branch attended in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Queensland Health officials notified the family who were extremely distressed.

Sunshine Coast Superintendent Darryl Johnson would "not confirm" the incident but said it was very sensitive information and police would not be commenting further.