By Nkosenhle Sibisi
The body of a newborn baby was found in a bin at the corner of 194 Umgeni Road by a vagrant on Tuesday, 2 August. The male baby, believed to have been born hours before the discovery, still had his umbilical cord attached and showed no signs of life.
Mr Khan, owner of a store near the bin in which the baby was found, said that the vagrants alerted his staff who then reported the incident to him. “At around 11am, the vagrants who normally dig in the bins opened the sack and noticed that there was a baby inside the plastic. They then alerted my staff and when I opened the sack we thought the child was alive but we realised that he was no more. The child was probably a few hours old,” said Khan.
He said that he tried to stop multiple police vans who just passed by and did nothing. “About three vans passed by and they did not stop to check; they all said they were on calls. The fourth van showed decency and stopped, they then called the emergency services who also arrived at the scene,” added Khan.
Emer-G-Med Spokesperson, Kyle van Reenen, confirmed that paramedics were called to assist the SAPS after the deceased baby was discovered in a rubbish bin. “Paramedics assessed the baby, only to find no signs of life and it was declared dead on the scene. A police investigation will be conducted,” said van Reenen.
Speaking to The Springfield Weekly Gazette, Durban Central SAPS Communications Officer, Captain Muzi Maphumulo, confirmed that the body of a newborn baby, approximately one day old, was found in a sack pocket along Umgeni Road.
“The child was discovered by a homeless person who was looking for food, who then alerted other people who were around. The people called the police who then attended the scene. The child is a male and was deceased. Nobody knows how or who left the deceased child near the road. There were no injuries on the body of the dead newborn,” said Capt Maphumulo.
He added that the docket of inquest and concealment of birth will be investigated by Durban Central Police.
