Vietnam police investigate 1,300 dead newborns found in freezers

In northern Vietnam, Hanoi city police have launched an investigation into 1,300 dead babies discovered in freezers in a rented house in Ha Dong district, an inner-city area that is home to government offices and universities.

District police on Saturday said they made the discovery during their search of the house after receiving reports from local residents, Tuoi Tre News reported on Sunday.

The locals had told the police that a group of five or six young people often brought suspicious packages to the house.

Investigators have since interrogated the group and initial investigation results showed that no criminal activity has been identified in this case.

A police spokesman told local media that the young people renting the house are volunteer charity workers who often collect dead newborns abandoned at private clinics and hospitals in Hanoi for burial.

The volunteers explained that they temporarily stored the dead babies in their freezers before transporting them to cemeteries far from the inner city.

However, the police have said they are considering some issues relating to the group’s preservation of the bodies.

If the manner in which the babies were collected, transported, and stored is found to breach health or environment laws, then the relevant government agencies will handle the case, police said.

Further investigation into the case is underway.