BANJUL - (Xinhua) -- Local police revealed that a US-based pharmaceutical company exported 50,000 contaminated cough syrup bottles that killed at least 69 children in Gambia.

In a preliminary investigation report released on Tuesday, police said the US-based Atlantic Pharmaceutical Company has been granted permission to export medicines and related medical products to the African country.

Of the 50,000 bottles of contaminated children's syrup, "41,462 were quarantined and held by the Medicines Control Agency," the report says.

The Gambian President's office announced that police have questioned the relevant authorities of the country's drug control agency over issues related to the approval of such drugs that led to the deaths of children last week.

The World Health Organization issued a warning on Wednesday last week, indicating that the medical products responsible for the deaths in Gambia were manufactured by the Indian company Medien Pharmaceuticals.

The investigation by the Crime Management Coordination Unit at Gambia Police Headquarters in Banjul is still ongoing.