Baby Didn't Have Ticket for Flight. His Parents Left Him Behind

Tel Aviv police alerted to possible child abandonment Tuesday
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2023 9:45 AM CST
Baby Didn't Have Ticket for Flight. His Parents Boarded Alone
A transportation security administration agent sits at a checkpoint at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel on Jan. 26, 2021.   (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Airport staff see a lot of weird stuff. But staff at Israel's main airport in Tel Aviv say "we didn't believe what we were seeing" Tuesday as a couple—who'd purchased two tickets for a flight out of the country—ran off to catch their flight, leaving their infant son behind. Outlets suggest this wasn't an accident. The parents, who hold Belgian passports, had arrived late to the airport and only then learned they needed to buy a third seat for their child, reports the Independent. According to the Times of Israel, they were unable to purchase a third ticket to Brussels as the check-in counter at Ben Gurion Airport had already closed.

They "then sprinted off toward security, leaving the infant behind in a baby carrier," per the Times. A short video shared by the New York Post shows someone pulling down a cover on the carrier to reveal the infant boy. A voice, speaking in Hebrew, reportedly says, "She left him here, I swear!" "All the workers were in shock," said a Ryanair employee at the airport, per the Times. "We have never seen anything like that." The couple was nabbed by airport security and didn't make their flight, per Israel Today. "This is now a matter for local police," a Ryanair rep said, per the Independent. (More Israel stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X