A fishing trip turned grisly last week when unsuspecting villagers in Russia's south Urals region found four barrels containing 248 human fetuses.
Now, less than a week after the grim discovery, officials have reportedly pinpointed the culprits, and it seems that the gruesome fetus dump may not have been an isolated incident.
According to Russian news agency RT, a waste disposal company and a medical academy based out of Ekaterinburg -- a major city in the region -- may be tied to thefetus-dumping case.
Investigators have allegedly found evidence suggesting Spetsavtobaza, a waste disposal company run by city administration, and its client, the Urals Medical Academy, have been routinely dumping "human waste" -- including human fetuses -- in unauthorized locations.
An employee of the academy allegedly told investigators that 14 barrels containing human fetuses had been dumped in May.
Four of the 50-liter canisters were found last week by a group of villagers.
“A friend of mine called at night and said he went fishing and wanted to get some wood for his fire. He found some abandoned water canisters and wanted to take them for his house. And when he came up, he saw… little baby bodies,” a local said,according to Reuters.
The fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde and aged between 12-16 weeks, werekept in barrels with tags marked with last names and numbers, the Associated Press reports. Some of the fetuses were almost a decade old.
The remaining ten barrels have yet to be found.
It is unclear as to whether the waste disposal company and the medical academy will be charged for their actions. In Russia, embryos and fetuses are supposed to be disposed of immediately by incineration, as they areclassified as highly hazardous waste, RT explains.
Some suspect that the fetuses may be a product of illegal cloning experiments, while others think they might have been used for stem cell research, RIA Novosti reports.
Now, less than a week after the grim discovery, officials have reportedly pinpointed the culprits, and it seems that the gruesome fetus dump may not have been an isolated incident.
According to Russian news agency RT, a waste disposal company and a medical academy based out of Ekaterinburg -- a major city in the region -- may be tied to thefetus-dumping case.
Investigators have allegedly found evidence suggesting Spetsavtobaza, a waste disposal company run by city administration, and its client, the Urals Medical Academy, have been routinely dumping "human waste" -- including human fetuses -- in unauthorized locations.
An employee of the academy allegedly told investigators that 14 barrels containing human fetuses had been dumped in May.
Four of the 50-liter canisters were found last week by a group of villagers.
“A friend of mine called at night and said he went fishing and wanted to get some wood for his fire. He found some abandoned water canisters and wanted to take them for his house. And when he came up, he saw… little baby bodies,” a local said,according to Reuters.
The fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde and aged between 12-16 weeks, werekept in barrels with tags marked with last names and numbers, the Associated Press reports. Some of the fetuses were almost a decade old.
The remaining ten barrels have yet to be found.
It is unclear as to whether the waste disposal company and the medical academy will be charged for their actions. In Russia, embryos and fetuses are supposed to be disposed of immediately by incineration, as they areclassified as highly hazardous waste, RT explains.
Some suspect that the fetuses may be a product of illegal cloning experiments, while others think they might have been used for stem cell research, RIA Novosti reports.
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