Airport security in the United Arab Emirates have spotted a five-month-old baby in luggage during an x-ray scan.
Airline authorities are investigating the parents who tried to sneak their baby into the Gulf country by hiding him in their carry-on baggage.
Newspaper reports say authorities discovered the baby at Sharjah airport when it showed up on an X-ray scan.
Carry-on luggage is typically scanned at Emirati airports on arrival, after passengers have their passports stamped.
Gulf News reports the husband and wife arrived at the airport on Friday night but were held at immigration because they did not have a visa for the newborn.
Officials allowed them to stay until the relevant office re-opened, but in their desperation the couple decided to make a run for it when the staff shift changed, the Daily Mail reports.
The couple put the baby the baby into a bag but security staff spotted the infant on the X-ray machine.
“When customs officials saw the baby inside the bag at the X-ray scanner, they were stunned,” a police officer said. “This machine is very dangerous for anyone, let alone a baby in a bag to pass through.
“A case will now be raised against the mother and father, they both have visas to come to the UAE, but they have put the life of their child at risk.”
The paper and The National daily are quoting police as saying the Egyptian parents put the child’s life at risk with the scheme. The case is being handed over to prosecutors.
Sharjah officials did not know how the child was initially placed onto the aircraft without a passport.
Source: THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
Child abuse!