Baby abducted from hospital's maternity ward as urgent search launched

French authorities are hunting for a 17-day-old prematurely born baby boy who was abducted from the maternity ward of a Paris-region hospital, with his parents identified as the chief suspects.

Police issued an alert with appeals for information broadcast on radio, television and online. It said the boy, called Santiago, needs constant medical care.

Officers said he has blond hair and was dressed in white velvet pyjamas and an oversized brown T-shirt when he was abducted on Monday night from a hospital in Paris’ northern suburban region of Seine-Saint-Denis.

The police alert identified the baby’s 23-year-old father and 25-year-old mother as the only suspects and included photos of them both.

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A phone number and an email address were provided for people to contact with information.

French TV was blanketed by the appeal alert this morning, with the broadcast from the Ministere de la Justice interrupting breakfast shows.

One alert broadcast on Premiere Edition, a programme on French television channel BFM TV, came in the form of crawling text on the screen informing the public that the baby was taken in the night between 11pm and 11.30pm. The appeal alert adds that the two parents are suspects, and calls on the public to provide information that may be relevant to the disappearance.

But it adds that people should not approach the two suspects, and instead call or email French authorities hoping to locate the newborn baby. The alert stated: "Santiago, newborn male, aged 17 days, blond hair, wearing a brown T-shirt size 6 months and white thick velvet pajamas was taken from the maternity ward of the Robert Ballanger hospital from Aulnay-sous, Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, on October 21, 2024, between 11pm and 11.30pm. The infant being premature, constant medical care is essential."

The appeal continues: "The suspects are his parents, a man aged 23, dressed in dark jeans, a white T-shirt, a light blue denim jacket and a black over-jacket and a woman aged 25 years old, dressed in a white sweater, a light blue sleeveless jacket and a green skirt. If you locate the child, do not intervene yourself, call 197 immediately or send an email to: pppj.alarme.elevement@interieur.gouv.fr."

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