In a bizarre incident, staff at an internet cafe in China’s Wenzhou failed to notice that one of their customers had died and instead assumed that he was simply sleeping. According to the South China Morning Post, the man, whose identity remains unknown, had begun an extended gaming session on June 1. The employees of the cafe thought the man was fast asleep and they didn’t bother to wake him up.

However, on the night of June 3, at 10 pm, a cafe worker attempted to wake him, only to find him unresponsive and his body cold. The alarmed worker contacted the police, who confirmed his death. 

“Based on the breakfast residuals left on the desk, he did not have lunch on June 2. He possibly died suddenly on the morning of June 2,” said a police officer, according to Jimu News.

The man’s brother-in-law, surnamed Chen, said the exact time of death was not confirmed because his family did not permit pathologists to perform an autopsy.

He also questioned the cafe employees and expressed frustration over how the death went unnoticed for so long. 

”He sat in an open area instead of a closed partition. There should have been employees checking on him and noticing his strange behaviour,” said Chen.

The internet cafe manager informed that the man looked healthy, and was a regular customer who usially stayed for six hours at a time. He added that gamers routinely fall asleep between their gaming sessions and the two staffers on duty at the time did not realise the man had ”slept” for such an extended period. 

”The employees thought he was having a rest, so they did not wake him up. Often, when we wake a sleeping customer, they become irritable and scold us,” he said.

As per the local police, the case is still under investigation.