Bird Drops Severed Human Hand That May Have Belonged to a Child into a Schoolyard: Reports

A human hand was discovered at a schoolyard in Ireland, and it is thought to have once belonged to a child, according to reports.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Gardaí — the national police and security service of Ireland —said they “were alerted to the discovery of partial human remains at a premises in Darndale, Dublin” on Friday, Feb. 21.

The statement added that the state pathologist was “notified” and the body part was “removed for examination and DNA analysis, which will assist Gardaí in confirming the identity and determine the course of the investigation.”

The Irish police also said that the investigation remained “ongoing.”

Based on CCTV footage, it is believed that the remains — which local news broadcaster RTE reported was a hand — were dropped into the schoolyard by a bird at about 10:30 a.m. local time, before they were discovered and reported to police about two hours later, per the outlet.

There were no children on the premises at the time, as school was out for midterm break, RTE added.

The Irish Independent reported that the severed hand displayed signs of injury and may have belonged to a local 12-year-old boy who suffered a serious injury from a gas can explosion the evening before.

Still, the outlet said that Gardaí could not “definitively” confirm that the hand belonged to the boy at this stage of the investigation.

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RTE also emphasized that there isn’t any indication of anything sinister being involved at this stage of the investigation — and authorities will also check the missing persons register as part of the ongoing investigation.