Dead Babies Fished Out of River in Shandong Province

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Um dia de feira na China

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sourced by Barbara McPherson

The bodies of dead babies and fetuses were fished out of a river in Shandong Province on the weekend.  It is not clear how the infants died but they were placed in plastic bags and at least one was marked "medical waste"

Some of the babies were traced back to a hospital in Jining by their ID tags on their feet.  Some of the 21 bodies found had personal information on their tags, showing who their mothers were.  The medical staff blamed for the discarding of dead babies into the river have been suspended.

Authorities refused to speculate on the sex of the babies or the fetuses found.  It is illegal in China to abort a baby on the basis of its sex, but it believed to be a common practise.  China, like many Asian countries has long standing customs which lead parents to prefer male children over female.

Local residents found the grisly remains Monday.  They continue to search among the muddy waters for more tiny corpses.

This river is not the city's drinking water source.