Workers at a US funeral home say they found a man alive and kicking when they opened a body bag. Walter Williams (78) had no pulse and was pronounced dead on Wednesday.

"I stood there and watched them put him in a body bag and zipped it up," Williams' nephew, Eddie Hester, told local station WAPT-TV.

As workers were preparing to embalm Mr. Williams at the Porter and Sons Funeral Home in Lexington, Mississippi he started kicking in the body bag, they said.

Coroner Dexter Howard said it was a "miracle". He said he believed Mr. Williams' pacemaker stopped working then started again.

Family members were called and Mr. Williams was taken to a hospital. Mr. Williams told his family he is happy to be alive, they said.