HANGZHOU,- Police in east China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday initially determined that the fall of a newborn baby into a sewer pipe last week was an accident after his mother unexpectedly gave birth while sitting on a toilet.The 22-year-old unmarried woman, who had kept her pregnancy secret, was said to have given birth to the baby on Saturday in a squat toilet in the apartment block where she lives in Pujiang County of Jinhua City, according to police.
Zhang Jianbo, director of Punan police station, said the woman said in response to questioning that she rushed to toilet after she began to experience stomach pains and subsequently gave birth to the baby.
Police records showed that the woman tried to grab the newborn but his fluid-covered body was too slippery and she let the baby slide into the sewage through the hole of the toilet.
She then raised an alarm with the landlord and suggested that the landlord and others come to assist, the records said.
But during the two hours it took for firefighters and doctors to use pliers and saws to successfully rescue the infant from the U-shaped pipe in which it was stuck, the woman remained silent out of concern she would lose eligibility to keep the baby, according to the police.
The boy, whose placenta was still attached when he was retrieved from the pipe at 6:03 p.m. on Saturday, suffered some cuts to his face and limbs and was put in an incubator at the Pujiang People's Hospital.
Zhang said the police questioning has concluded with evidence supporting the woman's claims, but further investigation will continue.
The case has sparked speculation as well as sympathy on the Internet, with some lamenting lax moral education toward sexual behavior while others urged legislation to be introduced to better protect children in such a scenario.
Pictures showing the rescue on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo have also inspired strangers to visit Pujiang People's Hospital with milk powder, clothes and offers of adoption.
The baby is in a stable condition as of Wednesday, according to the police, adding that they are looking for his father.
