Friday September 17, 2010
Abandoned baby found under bridge in Tapah
TAPAH: A newborn baby with the umbilical cord still attached was found under a bridge near the Sungai Klah hot spring in Sungkai, about 30km from here. Tapah deputy OCPD Deputy Supt Abdullah Arshad said the male infant was discovered by a family at about 5.30pm on Wednesday. Relating the incident, DSP Abdullah said a 16-year-old girl was walking back to her home in Menderang after spending time at the hot spring with her mother and younger brother.
“As her mother and brother were still a distance behind, the girl stopped by at the bridge. She heard cries of what seemed like a baby and told her mother who arrived later,” he said, adding that they called police after finding the baby on the grass.
Deserted boy: DSP Abdullah showing photographs of the abandoned baby yesterday.
The bridge, he said, was about 600m away from the hot spring. DSP Abdullah said a doctor at the Sungkai Health Clinic later confirmed that the baby – weighing 1.9kg and measuring 41cm long – was born about two hours earlier. “Injuries consistent with insect bites were found on his left ear, left hand fingers and nose,” he said.
The baby, currently under the care of the state Welfare Department, was taken to the Slim River Hospital and later transferred to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh for further treatment, he said. DSP Abdullah said a spot of blood was found and collected for DNA testing.
He also appealed to private clinics, friends or relatives who know of anyone having delivered a baby to provide them with information or call the police at 05-401 1222. On the mishap at the 346th kilometre of the North-South Expressway on Wednesday, DSP Abdullah said the driver of the BMW, whose body was mutilated after being run over by a few vehicles, has been identified as Amiruddin Darus.
The 51-year-old self-employed man was believed to have been run over by the vehicles when he was flung onto the road when his car hit the centre divider before crashing into the opposite side of the highway.
