Thaindian News

Beijing, March 1 (IANS) Two officials at a hospital in China were Thursday sacked for dumping the bodies of 16 dead foetuses and babies as “hospital waste”.

The bodies were found by residents on a riverbank wasteland in Dezhou in Shandong province Feb 28, an official told Xinhua.

A probe found that the bodies had been put there in early February by a mortuary worker at the Maternal and Children’s Hospital of Dezhou.

The deputy head of the hospital and a director of the ward were removed from their posts as punishment, the official said.

A ministry of health regulation issued in 2010 bans on disposal of corpses of foetuses as “medical waste”.

Doctors at the hospital said they perform each year around 100 surgeries to remove dead foetuses from mothers’ wombs, and about half of these families request that the hospital dispose of the bodies.

Police ruled out any foul play, saying the foetuses had died in the womb.

This case was a shocking reminder of what happened in Shandong two years ago.

Two mortuary workers dumped the bodies of 21 foetuses near a river in Jining city in 2010. Amid public uproar, authorities detained the workers, saying the two were paid by the families to dispose of the bodies.

In some parts of China, parents are reluctant to take the bodies of their dead babies home for a funeral, believing it will bring bad luck.