Thiruvananthapuram | Several specimens collected from patients for pathology test went missing from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital for a few hours on Saturday after a scrap dealer took them away believing it to be discarded materials, police said.

The specimens were returned by the scrap dealer when he realised what they were, it said.

A doctor in the pathology department of the medical college told media that the specimens were usually collected from the operation theatre and brought to the pathology lab by a housekeeping staff.

In the instant case, the staff member kept the box containing around 17 specimen containers on a staircase as he went to another department and when he returned, he found that it was missing.

"Even the evidence diaries were missing along with it," the doctor said.

She said that the lab came to know about it when the housekeeping staff informed them and they in-turn informed the Medical Superintendent.

The doctor said that later, around 3 pm, she was informed that the box was recovered.

"We received the specimens only after 3pm," she said.

The doctor also said that none of the specimens were damaged as they were kept in formalin and therefore, patients from whom it was collected need not be concerned.

The police said that the scrap dealer was neither arrested nor a case lodged in connection with the incident as it was not a theft of the specimens.