"That Leg Was Amputated from a Patient"... Bizarre Incident Sparks Controversy

[Anchor]

A human leg found at a recycling center in Incheon last week has been identified as belonging to a patient hospitalized at a nursing home. While it has been determined that the incident is not related to violent crimes such as murder, the police are investigating whether there were any legal violations in the process of the patient's leg being amputated and discarded.

Reported by Bae Seong-jae.

[Reporter]

The human leg discovered at a recycling center in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, on the afternoon of June 10 has been confirmed to belong to a patient in her 80s hospitalized at a nursing home about 25km away.

The nursing home voluntarily reported the incident on the afternoon of June 17, and the police received a verbal opinion from the National Forensic Service today confirming that the DNA matches.

The hospital reportedly stated to the police that "after amputating the necrotic leg of an 80-year-old female patient, it was placed in a dedicated medical waste container for disposal, but a cleaning staff member mistakenly discharged it incorrectly."

Based on the National Forensic Service's initial assessment that the body part belonged to a "female between 161 and 165 cm tall," the police had formed an investigation team of about 100 officers and had been tracking the case for a week.

In particular, as the foot size of approximately 210mm raised the possibility that it could be a young student, the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and local schools were stirred into searching for students with long-term absences.

Fortunately, it has been confirmed that this was not a violent crime, but the police have launched an investigation into the circumstances under which the hospital amputated and disposed of the patient's leg.

In particular, there is criticism that it is incomprehensible how the amputation was performed, as the nursing home in question does not have a separate operating room.

[Hospital Representative: We do not have an operating room. We can tell you that much, but we cannot provide any further details beyond that.]

Apart from the police investigation, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has also begun verifying the facts to determine whether there were any violations of the Medical Service Act.

Reported by Lee Sang-hak | Video edited by Jo Mu-hwan | Designed by Lee Jong-jung
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.