Mystery surrounds the gruesome discovery of a human leg found floating in an abandoned flooded boiler room at Dora Nginza Hospital, Soweto, yesterday, 14 July 11

The Health Department has vowed to launch a full-scale investigation after the limb was found floating in water underneath large containers that were formerly used to store coal on the hospital premises.

Provincial Health Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo yesterday said a full-scale investigation into where the body part came from would be launched.

He denied it could be related to the poor disposal of medical waste, saying amputations were not performed at Dora Nginza, but solely at Livingstone Hospital.

“This will have to be investigated, but it’s highly possible that this was a body (and not simply an amputated limb which was dumped),” Kupelo said.

He said the department would also check to see if there had been registered cases of patients going missing from the hospital premises, without being discharged by a doctor.