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Newborn baby found alive at bottom of drain in Sydney suburb

A newborn baby has been found 2.5 metres down a drain in Sydney after cyclists passing by heard c...
Newstalk
Newstalk

10.24 23 Nov 2014


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Newborn baby found alive at bo...

Newborn baby found alive at bottom of drain in Sydney suburb

Newstalk
Newstalk

10.24 23 Nov 2014


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A newborn baby has been found 2.5 metres down a drain in Sydney after cyclists passing by heard crying.

After pulling away the concrete drain cover they found the baby, thought to be two or three days old, lying at the bottom wrapped in a hospital blanket.

The child's mother, aged 20, has now been identified following hospital record checks and house-to-house enquiries in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill.

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Police say she is assisting them with their investigation.

The alarm was raised by a group of cyclists riding along the bike track beside the M7 highway. They heard cries from the drain at around 7.30am on Sunday.

"It was disturbing (to see) how the child was placed in the drain," Quakers Hill duty officer Inspector David Lagats said.

"We all thought the worst but the baby was still alive."

Inspector Lagats said the boy had no signs of physical injury but was malnourished and remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Police suspect the baby was squeezed through the drain's narrow opening and dropped.

Sydney has been sweltering in temperatures above 30C and it is thought the baby would not have survived much longer if he had not been found.

"That baby wouldn't have lasted an hour and a half," David Otte, one of the passers-by, told Fairfax Media.

"That baby had no chance if we and the other people hadn't been there. Something made us find that baby today."

Senior Constable Mark McAlister was one of the first officers on scene. He and a colleague helped rescue the baby.

"How could someone do it?" he told News Corp Australia.

"I, myself, have kids and we're expecting a baby in a few more months so it's not good that someone's going through this and has done this to a little one."


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