Severed limb found at recycling center was mistakenly thrown out by hospital volunteer: Police

The severed leg discovered at a public recycling facility in Incheon has been identified as belonging to a patient at a long-term care hospital, where a hospital volunteer wrongly discarded the body part as recyclable waste.

A patient at a long-term care hospital in Jung District, Incheon, had their leg amputated around June 8, according to the Incheon Yeonsu Police Precinct. The leg was then wrapped in bandages and placed in a designated medical waste container.

The following day, a volunteer who was cleaning trash bins at the hospital allegedly mistook the amputated leg for discarded plaster cast material and placed it in a recycling bag.

The leg was found by an employee sorting recyclables at a resource recovery center in the Songdo neighborhood of Yeonsu District at about 2:28 p.m. on June 10. The bandages wrapped around the leg were bloody at the time of discovery, which led the employee to notify the police.

Police formed a 64-member investigative task force and pursued multiple lines of inquiry to identify the leg’s owner. The case took a turn on Wednesday when the long-term care hospital voluntarily reported the incident.

The hospital’s head nurse saw news reports about the incident at around 5 p.m. that day and realized that a patient’s leg had recently been amputated at the facility. After reviewing CCTV footage and statements from the staff, the hospital’s facilities manager reported the matter to the police.

Investigators collected a DNA sample from the patient and requested an urgent analysis from the National Forensic Service. Authorities later received a preliminary verbal assessment indicating that the patient’s DNA matched that of the discovered leg.

Police are now examining the hospital’s handling and management of medical waste and are also investigating whether any violations of medical law — including the possibility of unauthorized surgical procedures — occurred.

Under the Wastes Control Act, medical waste containing human tissue must be placed in designated containers and collected and transported separately from other waste. Violators face up to two years in prison or fines of up to 20 million won ($13,000).

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]