Annabel Grossman
A MOTHER has been arrested on suspicion of murder, after her two-day-old baby was pulled from the drains of an Alicante building.
It is thought that the two-day-old baby boy – who still had his umbilical cord attached – could have spent up to 40 hours trapped in the 1.2m shaft before being rescued.
Weighing just 4.6lbs, the child had been wrapped in a plastic bag with a hole in it allow him to breathe.
Police discovered the baby after a neighbour mistook his crying for a cat meowing and phoned authorities to say an animal was trapped.
She said: “I thought it was a cat that was trapped and the baby’s crying was the meowing. The noise went on for ages so I called the police.
“One of the firefighters saw one of his tiny feet and realised it wasn’t a cat but a child.”
He was taken to hospital, where he was reported to be in a serious but not life threatening condition, with injuries including a broken arm.
Spanish police have detained a 26-year-old woman, after she was admitted to hospital on June 21 claiming to have suffered a miscarriage.
She confessed to police that she had tried to get rid of the baby, but said she did not have enough money for an abortion.
A spokesman for Spain’s national police said: “The woman we have arrested is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.”
Social services have said they will investigate the baby boy’s family set-up before making any decision on his future.
