Shocking moment: A couple left their baby at the check-in counter at an Israeli airport as they rush to board a Ryanair flight
- Parents with Belgian passports wanted to board a flight from Tel Aviv to Brussels
- They abandoned their child at the front desk and tried to go through security.
- The airport staff forced them to pick up the child and called the police to arrest the couple.
Police have detained a couple who abandoned their baby at a check-in counter at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport before boarding a flight to Brussels.
The couple arrived at Tel Aviv airport on Tuesday with Belgian passports and tickets for a Ryanair flight to the Belgian capital, but they did not have a boarding pass for the child.
When the airport staff told them they couldn’t get on board without buying a separate ticket, they simply left the baby in the stroller at the check-in counter and headed to the security terminal.
A shocking video footage showed the moment when stunned airport staff spotted a lone stroller and pulled back the blanket to reveal an abandoned baby underneath.
At first it seemed that someone left the stroller at the reception.
But airport officials removed the lid to reveal that the child had been left inside by his parents who were trying to get through security.
In the clip, one of the employees flips back the cover that was thrown over the stroller, which was on the conveyor belt at the check-in counter.
Sighs of surprise are heard when the staff realizes that the child is left alone in the stroller, and the parents are nowhere to be seen.
Security officials refused to let the couple through, forcing them to return to collect the infant before calling the police, who arrived at Terminal 1 and immediately arrested them.
The couple were taken in for questioning.
A Ryanair service manager told The Jerusalem Post: “We have never seen anything like it. We couldn’t believe what we saw.”
According to Ryanair, people traveling with an infant can either pay around £25 for a lap seat or buy a separate seat for a child at the standard adult rate.
The parents attempted to go through security at Terminal 1 of the airport, but were denied by the staff, who forced them to pick up the child.
The Israel Airport Authority also released a statement explaining that the couple missed their flight and left their child at the check-in counter in an attempt to pass security checks in time.
“A couple with Belgian passports arrived on a Ryanair flight at Terminal 1 without a ticket for a child.
The couple also missed their flight after the check-in desks were closed.
“They left the baby and went to the check-in counter in Terminal 1 to go to the boarding gate.
“The Ground Services Shift Supervisor took the couple back to the check-in counters to pick up the child and called the police and security.”
The parents were detained by police after they left the child at the check-in counter at Ben Gurion Airport (pictured) in the Israeli capital.
The shocking incident comes just a month after airport officials in Mauritius discovered a newborn baby boy abandoned in an airplane bin on New Year’s Day.
Officials found the newborn aboard an Air Mauritius aircraft during routine customs clearance after the plane landed in Mauritius, January 1st.
The baby was born on a flight from Madagascar but was not found until the plane landed. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Port Louis, Mauritius.
The 20-year-old woman detained in connection with the find initially denied that she was the mother of the baby, but a medical examination confirmed that she had recently given birth.
The newborn was taken to the hospital for treatment and is known to be doing well.
