An urgent manhunt is underway for a 17-day-old baby believed to have been abducted from the maternity ward of a hospital in France by his parents.
Authorities are appealing widely for information on the disappearance of baby Santiago, who they believe was snatched from the hospital hidden in a handbag.
The prematurely-born child, missing from Seine-Saint-Denis since Monday night, needs ‘constant medical care’.
Without medical help, the baby is expected to live just 12 hours, a police source said.
Officers said Santiago has blond hair and was dressed in white velvet pyjamas and an oversized brown T-shirt when he was abducted.
The police alert identified the baby’s 23-year-old father and 25-year-old mother as the only suspects and included photos of them both.
They say the parents disappeared on Monday evening between 11pm and 11:30pm, before the kidnapping alert was raised early Tuesday.
They have since carried out searches at the parents’ address in Noisy-le-Sec and the registered addresses of family members.
Several people were arrested late this morning in Livry-Gargan, in Seine-Saint Denis.
All were ‘members of the baby’s parents’ entourage’, TFI Info reported, without further details.
The unspecified number of people are being questioned as part of the investigation opened for ‘organised gang kidnapping’.
It was not clear why the baby had been kidnapped.
A manager at the Robert-Ballanger hospital told Le Parisien that he had seen the parents leaving the neonatology department when they were stopped by a nurse.
The nurse asked whether they would be back for midnight, and they replied ‘yes’.
‘Without a baby in their arms or in a stroller, the couple was only equipped with a simple bag, which did not attract the attention of the hospital staff who were used to seeing parents carrying clothes for their newborn,’ the manager said.
The parents are believed to have driven off with the bag, though surveillance footage has not been helpful in tracking their movements.
