Fisherman Discovers Bag Containing 54 Severed Hands

A Russian fisherman in Siberia made a grisly find Thursday: a bag containing 54 severed hands, Live Science reports. A photo of the hands shows them lined up and looking much like leather gloves. According to Time, the bag of hands was found on an island in the Amur River near the city of Khabarovsk—about 19 miles from the Chinese border. The area is popular with local fishermen, the Siberian Times reports.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation says the hands "are not of a criminal origin." And while locals mused the hands could have been amputated by a medical institution or cut off with an ax as punishment for thievery, investigators say they are likely the result of improper disposal by a forensics lab in Khabarovsk. Medical bandages and plastic shoe coverings were found nearby. But it remains unclear why a forensics lab would have so many severed hands on, uh, hand. (More severed hands stories.)