Yao Beina: Reporters 'sneak into morgue to take photos of dead Chinese pop star' who sang on Frozen soundtrack

The singer died of breast cancer after battling the disease for nearly four years

Yao Beina was a famous singer in Hong Kong who sang the theme tune of the Mandarin version of the Disney film Frozen (YouTube)

Chinese tabloid journalists have been accused of dressing as medics to sneak into a hospital to take photographs of the corpse of a famous singer who died of breast cancer.

Three reporters from Shenzhen Evening News, in mainland China, reportedly entered the morgue where the body of Yao Beina, 33, was kept to take photographs which have not been published, the South China Morning Post reported.

Her agent, Bo Ning, said her family had to intervene and stop the photographs from being published. The newspaper has since apologised, according to The Telegraph.

Ms Beina, who made a decision to donate her corneas for transplants the day before her death, rose to fame in Hong Kong after appearing on the Voice of China television show in 2013 and was known for singing the song Let It Go for the Mandarin version of the Disney animated film Frozen.

“On the mainland, entertainment reporters are even more ruthless than their Western counterparts, or even Hong Kong reporters, because there is no way for them to dig out any private stories about presidents, or even local party chiefs,” Qiao Mu, the head of the Centre for International Communication Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University told the South China Morning Post.

Ms Beina was diagnosed with cancer in May 2011 and she underwent mastectomy and chemotherapy before the tumour came back last month.

She died at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital. Her memorial service will be held on 20 January at Shenzhen Funeral Home.