Dead woman's body found in Russian hospital trash

The body of an elderly woman was found in a hospital garbage bin in St. Petersburg two days before she was to be discharged after treatment for a stroke, Piter.tv website said.

The patient could have got lost whilst wandering around the Dzhanelidze hospital and possibly died from exposure when she entered the unheated hospital department where "biological waste" is stored, Piter.tv said.

The patient's daughter told Piter.tv by phone that her mother did not like the hospital's treatment, which may have caused her to try to leave.

Hospital staff have been banned from talking to the media about the incident. The doctors findings in the patient's file said she had died from a second stroke.

Piter.tv said the hospital had not investigated the incident or called the police, or carried out an autopsy.