ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AFP)— Police in Ivory Coast’s largest city Abidjan have opened an investigation after two dead babies were found in a landfill alongside human remains, officials told AFP.

The bodies of two stillborn infants were found Sunday morning at a landfill site in Akouedo, east Abidjan, along with “medical equipment and fibroids that had apparently been dumped by a clinic or by a hospital”, said the city’s chief of police Kollo Roger Yeo.

Deputy Director-General for Public Safety Siaka Dosso also confirmed the presence of “human waste, including fibroids and umbilical cords”.

He said police had launched an investigation.

“Mothers sometimes abandon newborns and we find them, alive or dead,” said Dosso, adding that finding “human waste” was less common.

In 2022 the Ivorian government said it would close down illegal private clinics, as “more than 80 per cent of establishments in the private sector do not meet current standards” according to Dosso.

Abortion is only legal in the West African country in the event of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life, mental or physical health is at risk.