Nearly 350 Human Fetuses Found at Thai Temple
Updated 3:44 p.m. ET
Thai police have discovered hundreds of human fetuses dumped at a Buddhist temple's morgue in Bangkok, and suspect they came from illegal abortion clinics.
Police Maj. Gen. Sumeth Ruangswasdi said Tuesday they were called to investigate a strong smell, and discovered the fetuses in plastic bags. They counted a total of 348.
The smell and leaking blood from slots in the cemetery morgue of the Wat Phai Ngern temple in Bang Kho Laem district had led an undertaker, Suthep Chabangbon, to the fetuses, AHN reports.
Chabangbon reported the find to police, saying the fetuses must have been collected from abortion clinics and disposed of at different times, as their color and condition varied.
The Nation newspaper reported that the undertaker later confessed to having been hired by several clinics to dispose of the fetuses.
Abortion is illegal in Thailand except under three conditions - if a woman is raped, if the pregnancy affects her health or if the fetus is abnormal.
One rescue worker with the Poh Teck Tung foundation, a charity that provides emergency rescue and body recovery services, said up to 500 fetuses could eventually be uncovered, reports Australia's Herald Sun.