Baby Survives Abandonment in Plastic Bag

[TexasStooge]

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - A baby girl was found inside a plastic bag floating on a lake in Brazil after passers-by heard her crying. The infant was released from a hospital Sunday in good health, doctors said.

Amateur footage broadcast on Brazilian TV showed rescuers using a tree branch to pull the black plastic bag out of the water on Saturday. They opened the bag and found the 2-month-old girl inside, wearing a pink dress.

"I heard what sounded like a cat," Jose da Cruz told Globo TV. "Then the noise was increasing and it caught my attention."

A wooden board inside the bag apparently kept it from sinking in lake in downtown Belo Horizonte, a city about 300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo. The lake is in one of the city's most famous parks, and the area is often crowded with weekend visitors.

"It's a miracle she survived the heat and somehow didn't drown," said Dr. Claudia Guimaraes, who helped care for the child.

The baby's mother, arrested Sunday, denied throwing the girl into the lake, Globo reported. The mother said she gave the baby away to a group of homeless people because she didn't have enough money to raise the child.

[O Town]

So she gave it to homeless people???? That is a contradiction in itself, I could not afford the baby so I gave it to homeless people. Who could what? Afford it? I think she is full of poo poo. How horrible that this happened. What a miracle she is still alive. I think the board was a floatation device and the bag was to keep out the water, not very bright, but I think she did this hoping the baby would be found since she put the baby girl in a lake of a park that is full of people. There obviously was a better way to abandon this poor baby.

[arkess7]

OMG!!!!!!!!! What is wrong with people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alicia-w]

Dozens of people mobbed a hospital in southeastern Brazil on Monday hoping to adopt or just catch a glimpse of a 2-month-old girl found abandoned in a plastic bag floating in a lake, authorities said.

The Odilion Behrens Municipal Hospital had received more than 100 offers to adopt the infant, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Crowds have mobbed the hospital in Belo Horizonte, about 300 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, ever since the baby’s rescue Saturday was filmed by an amateur video cameraman and broadcast on international television.

Minas Gerais state police Inspector Helcio Sa Bernandes said the baby’s mother, arrested Sunday, had been charged with attempted homicide for putting the baby into the plastic bag, setting it on a board and pushing it into the lake.

The mother, Simone Cassiano da Silva, 27, has denied throwing the girl into the lake. She claimed she gave the baby to a group of homeless people because she did not have enough money to raise the child.

“That’s just a lie to mislead the police,” Bernardes said in a telephone interview.

The video footage broadcast on Brazilian television showed rescuers using a tree branch to pull the black plastic bag out of the water. They opened the bag and found the girl wearing a pink dress.

“I heard what sounded like a cat,” Jose da Cruz told Globo TV. “Then the noise was increasing and it caught my attention.”

The wooden board attached to the bag apparently kept it from sinking in Pampulha lake in downtown Belo Horizonte.

Hospital officials said the baby was in good health and was expected to be released Monday. Officials hoped to turn her over to authorities because the crowds outside the hospital were interfering with hospital operations.

The lake is in a downtown park often crowded with weekend visitors.