Apologies after stillborn foetus taken with laundry

Australian health officials apologised on Friday to the family of a stillborn baby which was mistakenly taken away from a hospital in a pile of dirty laundry for cleaning.

The remains of the male foetus were missing for four days in Australia's southern Victoria state before they were found at a laundry in Ballarat, outside Melbourne, after they had gone through a washing and drying cycle.

The foetus, one of twins, had died 18 weeks into the pregnancy but was delivered at Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital with the surviving twin brother 14 weeks later on March 21, officials said.

The father, Rafi Ahmed, said he had gone to the hospital the next day to pick up the remains of his stillborn child but was only told later that they were missing.

He was later horrified to learn that the foetus had been taken away in a pile of dirty laundry.

"(I was) thinking what condition he would have been in and what he has gone through," Ahmed told reporters in Melbourne.

The family hoped to receive the child's remains later on Friday for burial, he said.

"After all he is just a poor soul which has not done any harm for anyone but still has to go through all these things," he said.

Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said two inquiries had been launched into the incident. The hospital has also apologised to the distraught parents.

"This has been a terrible mistake and everyone is very sorry about this mistake," Pike told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.