A SANITATION worker in Bao’an District found a newborn with blood all over her inside a trash can Sunday, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The infant was taken to a nearby hospital and police found that the newborn was the daughter of a 15-year-old girl. The girl’s parents agreed to take the newborn back to their home in Heyuan City.

    The sanitation worker, surnamed He, said she saw a foot of the baby appearing from beneath a piece of cloth when she was sorting the trash cans in Liutang Community as usual at around 1 p.m. Sunday.

    He was frightened at seeing the bare foot and she called on others for help. A resident identified as Liu came to take a look at the trash can and lifted the parcel out. It was then that He and Liu realized it was a newborn as she was moving her tiny feet, crying.

    “The baby had blood on her face and an umbilical stalk, so we took her to a nearby community health care clinic,” said Liu.

    The newborn was then transferred to Bao’an People’s Hospital and the medical staff there said that the infant was in healthy condition besides having a low body temperature upon arrival due to exposure to cold outdoor weather.

    A staff member from the property management of the residential complex, surnamed Chen, said the baby might be linked to a teenager living on the ninth floor of the building after looking at the surveillance camera footage.

    Footage showed that the teenager carrying a red backpack, a shoebox and two bags of garbage walked out of the elevator at around 12:40 p.m. Sunday.

    It appeared that the teenager had intended to toss the garbage into a trash can near the staircase, but eventually put the garbage into another trash can outside the building after a male sanitation worker, who happened to be He’s husband, asked her a few questions.

    Chen said that the newborn was found inside of a box, covered with cloth. And the red backpack contained quilts that were assumed to have been used by the young mother to deliver the baby. The other bags contained the placenta. Chen said that the teenager had moved into the building over a year ago and seemed to work in a beauty salon.

    Police went to the teenager’s apartment and found blood stains in the bathroom. The teen gave birth to the newborn by herself at 4 a.m. Sunday and she went to work after the delivery.

    The teenager’s parents said that they would take care of the infant. Police said the young mother would not receive criminal punishment as she is underage. (Zhang Qian)