China's One Child Policy - The Results

Steve Davies, Sky News Online

Two hospital mortuary workers have been arrested after the bodies of 21 babies were found in plastic bags in a river in eastern China.

Eight of the babies found were admitted to the same hospital

Eight of the bodies found wore identification tags, which were traced back to Jining Medical College Hospital in Shandong province.

An investigation has discovered that of the eight identified, three were admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.

The identification tags contained the mothers' names, birth dates, measurements and weight.

Some were placed in hazardous waste bags, before being dumped into the river.

Local authorities claim that some of the babies were aborted foetuses or babies that had died from illness.

Video footage of the discovery has been posted online, showing the babies ranged from newborn to several months old.

Local residents found the bodies, which were floating near the shore.

A spokesman for the Jining Health Bureau told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, that the hospital staff members involved in the investigation had been suspended.

Abortion is not uncommon in China, with records showing that 13 million babies are terminated each year.

The high level of abortion is largely down to the country's policy of only allowing one child per family in urban areas.

Many of the terminations are female foetuses, as male children are often favoured in Chinese families.