A woman fled a maternity ward in the Siberian city of Magnitogorsk moments after giving birth to the city's first baby of what Russians consider the new millennium, RIA Novosti news agency reported. While millions of her compatriots were celebrating the start of 2001, the woman fled a hospital in industrial Magnitogorsk before officials could legally register her rejection of the baby. Police are searching for the mother.
Many city authorities promised prizes including free flats to the first resident to give birth in 2001, as the government tries to halt a population slide caused by poverty and poor health care.