'Foot' discovered on Canada shore

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A shoe containing what may be a detached foot has floated ashore in British Columbia in Canada, police say.

Coroners are carrying out tests to determine if the remains are human.

The shoe was discovered on Wednesday by a woman walking her dogs on the banks of the Fraser River in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond.

If the foot is found to be human, it would be the seventh human foot to wash up on beaches in the Pacific coast area since August 2007.

DNA tests are being carried out to determine whether it is linked to another found nearby in May.

A right foot enclosed in a similar running shoe - the first one belonging to a woman - was discovered on 22 May not far from the site of the latest find.

Remains intact

Police have determined that two of the other feet that have washed ashore are a match.

DNA evidence linked them to a man suffering from depression who was reported missing in 2007.

None of the other remains - all enclosed in running shoes - has been identified.

Remains found in a shoe near Campbell River in June turned out to belong to an animal.

Police have said there is no evidence that the feet were deliberately severed or removed by force.

Forensic experts say it is not unusual for body parts to become separated after they have been submerged for a long time, and that they can remain intact in water for years if protected by shoes or sturdy clothing.