Shock find at Paris morgue

2005-08-02 21:14

Paris - French authorities have discovered the remains of more than 350 stillborn babies and foetuses kept illegally in a Paris hospital morgue, some for two decades, the health minister said on Tuesday.

A preliminary judicial investigation has been launched into the discovery at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Hospital, health minister Xavier Bertrand said in a statement.

"I want to share my deep emotion and indignation at this discovery," said Bertrand after visiting the hospital in southern Paris.

"This situation demands that we find the truth."

Jean-Marc Boulanger, director of the Paris hospital system, said 351 bodies had been found in the morgue.

Some of the babies had died in 1985, he said.

Few other details were available.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin demanded an administrative inquiry and a plan to carry out a wider inspection of many French hospitals.

- SAPA