The pipe was not big enough for the firefighter’s hand to pass through, and photographs show doctors and rescuers cutting carefully away at a piece of sewer pipe to release an abandoned newborn baby boy from inside.
Firefighters had to remove the 10cm, L-shaped section of pipe from a squat toilet and bring it to a nearby hospital, where doctors carefully used pliers to cut the material and rescue the baby. Video footage of the dramatic two-hour rescue was broadcast widely on Chinese TV news and websites.
Named Baby No 59 after the number of his hospital incubator, he is now in stable condition, according to local media.
He was found in the sewage pipe in an apartment building in Jinhua in the wealthy eastern province of Zhejiang on Saturday afternoon. Neighbours alerted the authorities after hearing a baby crying.
There are regular stories of women abandoning their babies in China.
Normally the tales of newborn babies being cast away involve destitute rural women getting rid of unwanted girl infants. The one-child policy means boys are often favoured over girl children, and some take the drastic step of abandoning girls.
Strict social mores, not unlike Ireland in the last century, make unwanted teen pregnancy a major stigma, and there are other stories of girls getting rid of babies after discovering they are pregnant, or not knowing they were pregnant before giving birth. In this case it is not clear exactly what happened.
Unmarried mother
The Jinhua Daily newspaper reported that the police had found a 20-year-old unmarried mother from Pujiang county in the province, who was living on the fourth floor of the block.
In one version reported, she said the baby had fallen into the toilet as she was using it. Afterwards, she was scared so she chose to be silent.
Other reports said the baby fell into the toilet as the young woman was giving birth.
Police were investigating her motives and had yet to decide whether charges should be filed, and there was no information about the baby’s father.
The case has caused a furore on China’s Twitter-like service Weibo, with some calling for the execution of the mother who abandoned her child. One commentator described the parents as being “more disgusting than the sewer pipe leading to the toilet”.
As with so many of these extreme cases in China, the event has led to some serious soul-searching about the country’s moral state.
Another Weibo commentator, Weixian de shuozhuo, wrote: “This kind of thing makes me speechless. Since I was young, I’ve seen deserted babies on trash heap. It seems that in Chinese people’s eyes, throwing a baby away is not an evil thing. My parents always joked that I was picked up from the trash. Why does dirty sewerage and rubbish always connect with holy babies?”
Li ming wrote: “What caused the parents to ignore a life? Is it ignorance or something else?”
Other commentators were sympathetic, expressing their sorrow for a mother driven to do such a thing.
“I feel sad for the mom. At the same time I am startled by the miracle of life. I hope this child will grow up as someone who makes great achievements,” wrote Gui da shushu.
