Merksem –
A walker found a newborn baby at the cemetery in the Municipal Park in Merksem on Tuesday afternoon. The Antwerp police confirms this. The girl was taken to hospital in good health, the mother is kindly asked to report.
The passerby made quite a strange discovery on Tuesday afternoon. While walking she found a crying baby. The newborn girl was all alone in the park. There was no trace of the parents. The baby was left in the Municipal Park in Van Heybeeckstraat, probably in the cemetery near the park.
The newborn girl is said to have been hypothermic at the time of the discovery. “The woman wrapped the baby to keep her warm and immediately took her to hospital,” said police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns. “The girl was examined by a doctor and is in good health. She is well taken care of.”
The foundling will remain in the ZNA Jan Palfijn until the parents report to the police. If the parents are not found, Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever will be appointed as guardian. “Our first concern now is the health and well-being of the child,” De Wever responds.
“Fortunately, we have excellent maternity nurses who do their utmost to surround the foundling with all the care and warmth. I hope that the investigation can provide more clarity about the clearly distressing circumstances in which this happened. In any case, the city will care about the child’s future and ensure that it will not lack anything.”
The Antwerp police ask the mother to report. This can be done via the Blue Line on the free number 0800-123.12.
© Jan Van der Perre
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