WARSAW, Poland — A Polish funeral home issued an unusual apology Saturday after a body it was transporting fell from a hearse and ended up in traffic.

Polish media reported that a man was driving along a street in Stalowa Wola, a town in southeastern Poland, on Friday when he first saw a sheet on his car window.

When the sheet slipped, he saw a body lying on the road. For a moment, the driver was afraid he had hit the person.

Local media published an image of the body lying on a white-striped pedestrian crossing, where it emerged from the hearse.

The company transporting the body, Hades Funeral Services, released a statement on Saturday taking responsibility for the incident and blaming a technical failure of the hearse.

“It is with deep regret that we inform you that following an unexpected technical failure of the electric tailgate lock of the hearse, during the transport of the body of the deceased, an unfortunate event occurred which does not reflect not our company’s high standards, our deep empathy for the families of the deceased, and the respect we always show to the deceased,” the company wrote in a statement posted on its website.

She apologized to “all those who were disappointed and upset by this event”.

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