Newborn baby found in garbage bin of Air Mauritius flight during customs check

An Air Mauritius Airbus A330-900's garbage compartment was discovered with a newborn baby last week. Airport officers found the infant during a routine customs examination of the plane. The boy's mother is in police custody and reports indicated that the boy and his mother are both doing well. It was January 1st when the incident occurred, with the flight arriving in Mauritius from Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital and largest city. The incident occurred aboard Air Mauritius flight MK289, which was an Airbus A330-900.

As reported by the BBC, customs agents discovered the newborn during a routine check of the plane. As a result of the discovery, it appears that authorities at the Mauritius Airport (Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport) searched for the mother of the infant before rushing it to a hospital. The mother was suspected to be a 20-year-old woman from Madagascar.

She was arrested on this suspicion and initially denied being the mother. An examination by a medical professional revealed that she had given birth quite recently. It appears that this woman was travelling from Madagascar to Mauritius on a two-year work permit. She was placed under surveillance at the hospital and according to BBC reports, she will be facing charges of abandonment.

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Whenever a known birth occurs onboard a flight, as we have seen in recent situations, the flight is diverted to the closest suitable airport. At the end of August 2021, an Afghan woman gave birth on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Dubai. The Boeing 777 had to be diverted to Kuwait to provide medical treatment for the woman and her child.

In Air Mauritius situation, it did not matter if the mother had notified flight attendants of her condition as the closest suitable facility was the destination airport.

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