A second funeral will be held for a West Australian man whose body remained in a hospital mortuary as his family buried an empty coffin.
It is still not known how the mistake occurred but the WA Country Health Service has launched an investigation.
It is understood the coffin was buried in Meekatharra, in the state's Mid West region, before it was realised the body was not inside.
A second funeral will be held later on Monday.
Alan Franklin, the dead man's brother, said he was shocked and angry over the error.
"That Friday morning, that's when I got the phone call that the body was still in the morgue and I asked myself, 'who did we bury?'" he told ABC radio.
WA Country Health Service Midwest regional director Margaret Denton said the mishap was "totally unacceptable".
"I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the deceased's family and apologise for the distress that this has caused them," she said.
Ms Denton said the service was seeking to clarify the sequence of events to learn if there were any gaps in procedures.
"Information from the investigation will be used to improve systems involving the health service, undertakers or officiating persons and ensure that this doesn't happen again," she said.
The distressed family would be kept informed, Ms Denton said.
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