Warning: This article contains graphic images. 
 
 Russian police have launched an investigation after a bag containing 54 severed human hands was found near the Siberian city of Khabarovsk. 
 
 According to the Siberian Times, a single hand was spotted first, then the bag containing the remains was discovered on an island in the Amur River. Photos that appear to be taken at the scene show the hands lined up in 27 matching pairs laid out in the snow. 
 
 Investigators gave no clues as to who the hands might have belonged to, or why they were discarded. 
 
 Bandages and hospital-style plastic shoe covers were reportedly found with the haul, and police have taken fingerprints from one of the hands, according to local media. 
 
 Theories from local media as to why the hands were severed range from them being the result of punishment for theft, medical amputations, or the improperly discarded remains of cadavers dissected by medical students. 
 
 The Amur River island where the bag was found is a popular fishing spot for people living in nearby Khabarovsk, a city of half a million people close to Russia’s southeastern border with China. 

 Macabre bag containing 27 pairs of human hands found in bag on Amur River island. Mystery over who the hands belonged to, when they were chopped off, and why. GRAPHIC IMAGES http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/macabre-bag-containing-27-pairs-of-human-hands-found-in-bag-on-amur-river-island/ …pic.twitter.com/wJZqYveSPr 

 Macabre bag containing 27 pairs of human hands found in bag on Amur River island. Mystery over who the hands belonged to, when they were chopped off, and why. GRAPHIC IMAGES https://t.co/eq2B1N1Pn9 pic.twitter.com/wJZqYveSPr — The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) March 8, 2018 
 
 A fisherman in Siberia made a grim discovery yesterday (March 8) while walking near the icy Amur River: 27 pairs of human hands, severed at the wrist and stuffed into a bag. Russian authorities said the hands were likely disposed of by a local forensics lab, bucking proper protocol. 
 
 According to the Siberian Times, the fisherman found the bag of hands on a small river island near the city of Khabarovsk, Russia, located in the country's far southeast about 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) from the Chinese border. The Amur River is a popular local fishing destination, the Times reported. 
 
 Initially, the fisherman saw only one hand sticking up out of the snow there, and discovered the full bag soon after. Photos taken at the scene and shared anonymously to Russian media reveal the discovery in brutal detail. In one image, the 54 hands lie in a haphazard pile in the snow like leathery catcher's mitts, seemingly upended from the bag; in another photo, the hands have been lined up in neat rows. [27 Oddest Medical Case Reports] 
 
 While many social media spectators (naturally) suspect foul play, officials from the Investigative Committee of The Russian Federation — a government agency responsible for criminal investigations — have said that the hands appear to have been improperly disposed of by a forensics lab in Khabarovsk. 
 
 "The biological objects (hands) found are not of a criminal origin," the Investigative Committee wrote in a post (as translated) on the messaging app Telegram, "but were disposed of in a manner not provided for by law." 
 
 Indeed, medical bandages and plastic hospital-style shoes were discovered near the hands. According to the Siberian Times, it's not unheard of for forensics labs in Russia to cut off the hands of unknown corpses in order to retain fingerprint information after the rest of the body has been discarded. Despite this possible explanation, investigators have been able to lift fingerprints from only one of the 27 pairs of hands. Little is known about the hands' previous owners. 
 
 "Based on the [investigation] results, a legal assessment will be made of the actions of officials of the forensic medical institution in the city of Khabarovsk responsible for the disposal of these biological objects," the Investigative Committee wrote. 
 
 This investigation is ongoing. 
 
 Originally published on Live Science.
– 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.