不久前，在山东省济宁市郊区的一条河中发现21具死婴遗体。济宁市医院几名相关工作人员已被停职接受调查。
　　several staff members at a hospital in jining, shandong province, have been suspended after 21 fetuses and infant corpses were discovered in a river on the outskirts of the city.
　　
　　周二，济宁市卫生局办公室主任钟海涛在接受《中国日报》采访时称，当地卫生部门已经联合公安对此事展开调查。
　　local health authorities together with the police have launched an investigation into the discovery, zhong haitao, the office director of the jining health bureau, told china daily on tuesday.
　　
　　省新闻网站齐鲁网报道，当地居民于周日在光复河桥下发现多具遗体。
　　residents discovered several corpses under a bridge spanning the guangfu river on sunday, the provincial news website www.iqilu.com reported.
　　
　　“那些丢弃死婴的人简直太没有人性了。它们怎能这样丢弃这些遗体？”当地一名20多岁的网友发表评论道。
　　the morality of those who dumped the bodies is corrupt. they can't just discard bodies like this, a local resident in his 20s was quoted as saying on the website.
　　
　　《新京报》周二报道称，由于死婴的遗体已经腐烂，年龄很难辨别。但根据大小不难看出，他们还都是很小的婴儿，最大的身长有60厘米左右。
　　it is difficult to determine the ages of the deceased because of the decomposition of the corpses, but their sizes suggest they were very young babies, with the largest measuring 60 cm long, the beijing news reported on tuesday.
　　
　　“这些遗体可能是当地医院里引流产或者病亡的死婴。他们可能被丢进了垃圾桶，有些则落入了附近的河中。”钟海涛说。
　　the corpses could have been those of aborted fetuses or babies who died of illness at local hospitals. they might have been dumped into a rubbish bin and some of them fell into the nearby river, zhong was quoted as saying.
　　
　　调查发现，当地共发现21具死婴遗体中，带有脚牌编号信息的有8例。根据信息显示，这些遗体来自济宁医学院附属医院。
　　a total of 21 fetuses and infant corpses were found at the site. eight of the bodies had tabs with clinical data attached to their feet, which showed the bodies were from the subsidiary hospital of jining medical university, the investigation has revealed.
　　
　　“目前，医院已对院内相关工作人员给予停职调查。待事实查清后，将依法作出处理。”钟海涛说。
　　the hospital's medical staff involved have been suspended, pending the investigation. they will be handled in accordance with the law after all facts are ascertained.  zhong said.
　　
　　另外13具婴儿遗体身世背景的调查还在进行中。
　　an investigation to determine the origins of the other 13 bodies is underway.
　　
　　据钟海涛说，医院内引流产或者病亡的死婴遗体被视为“医疗垃圾”，根据相关规定应当火葬。
　　aborted fetuses or babies who die of illness in hospitals are a "kind of medical waste" and should have been cremated according to relevant regulations, zhong said.
　　
　　当地居民担心死婴遗体会对饮用水造成污染。
　　local residents are worried the dumped bodies will have contaminated the drinking water.
　　
　　对此，济宁市环保部门明确表示，根据最近检测数据显示，光复河水水质达标。此外，光复河河水并非饮用水来源。
　　the municipal environmental department said the most recent tests show the water is safe, though the river is not a source of drinking water.
　　
　　去年6月，在中国中部湖北省某施工场地突现8具遗体--其中两具成人遗体，6具婴儿遗体。
　　last june, the bodies of eight people - two adults and six fetuses - who died at a hospital in central china's hubei province were found dumped at a nearby construction site.
　　
　　据媒体报道，国内医院的太平间常存有大量无人认领的遗体。这不仅占据了大量空间，还降低了工作效率。
　　media have often reported that hospital morgues across china hold a large number of unclaimed bodies, which take up space and reduce working efficiency.
　　
　　对此，专家表示，目前尚没有明确法律条文规定如何处理这些无人认领的遗体。
　　experts have said no laws or regulations specifically stipulate how to handle unclaimed bodies.