Media reports in Uzbekistan say authorities are investigating how 16 sewing needles got inside the body of an 11-month-old boy in the eastern region of Ferghana.
Health Ministry officials were quoted on January 22 as saying that in a nine-hour operation, doctors removed 13 needles from different parts of the boy's body including the colon, bladder, chest, throat, a kidney, and the heart area.
The boy remained in serious condition and was expected to undergo further surgery to remove three remaining needles.
Ministry officials said the needles had been in the baby's body for at least a month, the reports said.
The boy's mother took him to the hospital and said she did not know how the needles could have gotten into his body, the reports said.
They said his father was a migrant laborer currently working in Russia.