Russian prosecutors are investigating allegations that workers at a hospital in suburban Moscow abused two children by tying them to their beds, the Associated Press reported March 16.

The investigation has found evidence that workers at City Hospital No. 1 in the Moscow suburb, used bed sheets to tie a 1 1/2-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy to their beds, said Yelena Rossokhina, a spokeswoman for the regional prosecutor’s office.

The workers apparently did so to avoid having to closely care for the children, who had been abandoned by their parents, Rossokhina said.

There have been similar cases of abuse and neglect of children in Russian hospitals in recent months, raising more concern about the ailing state of the country’s health care system.

Last month, prosecutors said they were investigating allegations that workers at a hospital in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg taped infants’ mouths shut to keep them from crying.

In another recent incident in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, a criminal investigation was begun at a kindergarten where an employee gave unauthorized injections to children to calm them down or to help them sleep.

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