Chinese Baby Rescued From Toilet Pipe Is Released To Grandparents

A newborn baby boy who was found alive inside a toilet pipe in Jinhua, China, has been released from a hospital and taken home by his maternal grandparents, police said Thursday.

The arrested child's mother is still being treated at the hospital, but has been cooperating with the investigation, said Xiang Jiangsong, a police official.

The police are labeling the case an "accident" at this time, and no charges have been filed against the mother. Dramatic video of the infant's rescue made global headlines and sparked reactions worldwide.

Unable to pull the infant out, rescuers went to the floor below and sawed away a section of pipe.

But the baby was still stuck, so both the section of pipe and the infant were taken to a hospital. Working together, rescuers and doctors began removing the pipe, piece by piece.

CCTV video showed the exact moment hands in white gloves gingerly pulled away a part of the pipe, revealing the tiny face of a newborn. The infant, a boy referred to as "Baby 59," is drinking formula, doctors said.

Police said firefighters and other rescuers involved visited the baby at the hospital and sent clothes, formula powder and diapers. 

The mother of the infant is not being identified, but police say she is 22.

Local police say that, so far, they believe her account of how the baby ended up in the pipe.

"That day she felt stomachaches," said Jiang Song, the vice director of police. "So she went to the toilet. It was actually close to her due date and the baby just slid out."

Police questioned the woman, who told them that she did not intend for the child to fall into the toilet, according to a local TV channel that was posted on the official police Weibo account. The police said she tried to retrieve the baby with a stick, then decided to flush the toilet to clear away the blood.

Source: CNN