SAO PAULO, Brazil – A baby girl found inside a plastic bag floating on a lake in Brazil was released from hospital Sunday in good condition, doctors said.
The girl, apparently two months old, was rescued Saturday afternoon by a couple who heard her crying in the Pampulha Lagoon in Belo Horizonte, a city about 300 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.
Amateur footage broadcast on Brazilian TV showed rescuers using a long tree branch to pull the black plastic bag out of the water. They opened the bag and found the girl inside, dressed in a pink dress.
"I heard what sounded like a cat," Jose da Cruz told Globo TV. "Then the noise was increasing and it caught my attention."
A small wooden board inside the bag apparently kept it from sinnking.
"She is in good condition," Dr. Claudia Guimaraes said. "It's a miracle she survived the heat and somehow didn't drown."
Authorities arrested the mother of the baby later Sunday, but she denied throwing the girl into the lake, Globo reported. The mother said she gave the baby away to a group of homeless people because she didn't have enough money to raise the child.
The Pampulha Lagoon is located in downtown Belo Horizonte, in one of the city's most famous parks, often crowded with weekend visitors.
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