Teenagers, 17, arrested for dumping their baby in underground waste container

Amsterdam police have identified and arrested the teenage parents of the baby found in a yellow supermarket plastic bag and dumped in an underground waste container last week.

The parents are both aged 17 and were arrested on Wednesday, the public prosecution department said in a short statement. They have admitted being the baby’s parents. The mother of the girl was also arrested and her role is being investigated.

The Telegraaf later reported that the youngsters had turned themselves into the police and that they thought the baby was dead. Only the father was present at the birth, lawyer Gerald Roethof told the paper.

The teenagers appeared in court on Friday and were released under licence. Both are suspected of attempted murder.

The baby girl, now said to be a newborn, has left hospital and is being cared for by foster parents.

The baby was rescued from the container in the district of Zuidoost after a local woman heard it cry when she was depositing her own rubbish in the bin. She alerted the authorities who managed to get the baby out.