Gruesome fetus dump not an isolated incident - Russian police

A major waste disposal company and a medical academy have been implicated in a fetus-dumping case that has shocked the world. Authorities have also learned that dumping human waste was routine for the academy.

The shocking discovery in a forest led the Sverdlovsk Region health ministry to vet the waste disposal process at all hospitals with gynecological and maternity wards within a 100-km (63-mile) radius. The authorities discovered that a number of hospitals supplied the Urals Medical Academy in Ekaterinburg, the region’s capital, with "material for scientific research,"according to Life News online.

Police investigators interrogated an employee of the academy who admitted that dumping medical waste was systematic and routine for the facility, and that 10 barrels containing human fetuses had been dumped in May, in addition to the four barrels with 248 fetuses already discovered. The location of the 10 barrels remains unknown.

The investigators also searched the academy and discovered an agreement between the Urals Medical Academy and “Spetsavtobaza”, a waste disposal company run by the administration of Ekaterinburg. The academy’s employees also said barrels full of human fetuses were loaded onto the company’s trucks and subsequently taken to a forest.

"The embryos first had to be incinerated,” said one employee who was present as the trucks were being loaded. "From what I understood the cargo was not accepted as it was wet, covered in formaldehyde, and was therefore simply taken to a forest. Prior to that, they were normally dumped into coffins and taken away for incineration."

Authorities are on the lookout for the vehicle that took the four barrels full of fetuses to the forest.

The academy’s rector had previously suggested that a former employee had dumped the fetuses, which were used as research material for her thesis.

"A year ago, the woman was fired, after which she took some of the research material.” rector Sergey Kutepov said. “Maybe she wanted to continue her research at home."

However, investigators have ruled out the former employee’s involvement, saying it would have been “illogical” and “physically impossible” for one woman to transport the four 50-liter barrels.