248 human fetuses found in Russian forest

(CBS/AP) MOSCOW - Villagers in Russia's south Urals have stumbled upon a gruesome discovery — four barrels containing 248 human fetuses left in a forest.

Police in the Sverdlovsk region said Tuesday the fetuses, preserved in formaldehyde, were kept in barrels with tags containing surnames and numbers.

Police suspect that one of the four local hospitals is responsible for dumping the barrels.

The fetuses were found a few miles away from a highway linking the region's capital, Yekaterinburg, with another big city, Nizhny Tagil.

"It seems the company responsible for disposal of the bio-medical waste did not carry out its duties," the deputy head of the regional government, Vladimir Vlasov, said on state television, according to Reuters.