seruriermarshal
04-05-2006, 05:52 AM
Police in northwest China investigate discovery of 121 human skulls
(AP)
5 April 2006
SHANGHAI, China - Scores of human skulls, many of them with the top sawn off, have been found in a hillside forest in northwestern China, though it is unclear how or when the people died, police said on Wednesday.
The 121 skulls found on March 27 by a herdsman in Gansu province showed severe head injuries, and the crowns of many had been sawn off or otherwise damaged, police in Gansu’s capital Lanzhou said in a statement.
It said the skulls were confirmed as human, and that the injuries had been inflicted after the people died, although what caused their deaths was still under investigation.
The statement cited forensics expert Chen Shixian as saying that medical research had been ruled out and that the head injuries did not appear to have been the cause of death.
The skulls were both male and female, young and old, the statement said, without elaborating on ages.
A photo published on the Sohu.com Web portal showed rows of skulls with the tops cut off, some of which still had skin and facial hair on them.
The police statement did not give any indication of when the people died, though local media reports said the skulls were not thought to be very old.
A Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post, reported Wednesday that police were also investigating the discovery of two human arms at a landfill site in Lanzhou.
It cited a reporter for the local newspaper, Lanzhou Morning Post, as saying that the arms were those of a child.
Police said they had no comment on that report.
The report said the landfill handles both household and medical waste.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April156.xml§ion=theworld&col=
(AP)
5 April 2006
SHANGHAI, China - Scores of human skulls, many of them with the top sawn off, have been found in a hillside forest in northwestern China, though it is unclear how or when the people died, police said on Wednesday.
The 121 skulls found on March 27 by a herdsman in Gansu province showed severe head injuries, and the crowns of many had been sawn off or otherwise damaged, police in Gansu’s capital Lanzhou said in a statement.
It said the skulls were confirmed as human, and that the injuries had been inflicted after the people died, although what caused their deaths was still under investigation.
The statement cited forensics expert Chen Shixian as saying that medical research had been ruled out and that the head injuries did not appear to have been the cause of death.
The skulls were both male and female, young and old, the statement said, without elaborating on ages.
A photo published on the Sohu.com Web portal showed rows of skulls with the tops cut off, some of which still had skin and facial hair on them.
The police statement did not give any indication of when the people died, though local media reports said the skulls were not thought to be very old.
A Hong Kong newspaper, the South China Morning Post, reported Wednesday that police were also investigating the discovery of two human arms at a landfill site in Lanzhou.
It cited a reporter for the local newspaper, Lanzhou Morning Post, as saying that the arms were those of a child.
Police said they had no comment on that report.
The report said the landfill handles both household and medical waste.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April156.xml§ion=theworld&col=