Shocking CCTV footage of the moment horrified paramedics found a newborn baby in a bin at Doha airport has been leaked online.
The premature girl was found alive in a toilet bin at the Hamad International Airport in Qatar on October 2.
Up to 18 Australian were forced to undergo an invasive vaginal exam to determine if any of them had just given birth.
Authorities pulled the women off flights and forced to remove their underwear to undergo a non-consensual medical examination in an ambulance on the tarmac.
CCTV footage released by Doha News shows five male paramedics holding the baby after removing her from the bin in what police believe was attempted murder.
The medics were seen tending to the baby, who was wrapped in a blue blanket, inside the airport terminal.
CCTV footage shows male paramedics walking with the baby after removing her from the toilet in what police believe was attempted murder
The ambulance crews were seen tending to the baby, who was wrapped in a blue blanket, inside the airport terminal
The footage surfaced just hours after the Qatari government confirmed it would launch of an immediate inquiry into the strip searches, following worldwide outrage.
The government said while the aim of the urgent search was to stop the perpetrators from escaping, it regretted any distress or infringement on the personal freedoms of any traveller caused by the incident.
‘This was the first instance of an abandoned infant being discovered in such a condition at HIA [airport]– this egregious and life-threatening violation of the law triggered an immediate search for the parents, including on flights in the vicinity of where the newborn was found,’ a government statement read.
‘While the aim of the urgently-decided search was to prevent the perpetrators of the horrible crime from escaping, the State of Qatar regrets any distress or infringement on the personal freedoms of any traveler caused by this action.’
The government promised to share the investigation with international partners.
Scott Morrison condemned the actions of Doha authorities, saying the Qatari government had been given a clear message the incident was unacceptable.
‘It was appalling,’ he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
‘As a father of a daughters, I could only shudder at the thought that anyone would, Australian or otherwise, be subjected to that.’
Five women of other nationalities were also strip-searched after being dragged off planes.
In an earlier statement, Qatar said the mother, who hasn’t been found, delivered the baby on her own in the toilets at Doha’s main airport.
Authorities pulled the women off flights and forced to remove their underwear to undergo a non-consensual medical examination in an ambulance on the tarmac
The premature girl was found alive in a toilet bin at the Hamad International Airport in Qatar on October 2
She then put the live baby in a bag and dumped her in a bin before covering her with tissues in a failed attempt to hide her.
‘The baby girl was rescued from what appeared to be a shocking and appalling attempt to kill her,’ the government said on Wednesday.
The baby girl is now safe and in the care of social workers in Qatar.
An elderly woman who among those ordered off the Qatar Airways flight has spoken out, saying she believed she was in a hostage situation.
Ffranses Ingram, 73, said she would have struck police with her walking cane if she was aware of what her fellow passengers were about to be subjected to.
‘I find I’m getting more outraged every day now, and more frightened and more concerned for the girls on the plane than I had been at the time because I didn’t realise how far the examination had gone on some of them,’ she told the ABC.
Mrs Ingram, who stopped over in Doha on her way home from Germany where she was receiving medical treatment, said the plane was on the tarmac for nearly four hours before the women were taken off.
‘They kept telling us different stories…then the plane said, “We’re taking off now”. And all it did was taxi to another part of the airport. And then it said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got government security issues”,’ she said.
Passengers were then told that all females on board had to disembark.
‘Then I got frightened because I thought, ‘Oh, this is a hijack where the women are being allowed off and the men are going to be kept hostage’,’ she said.
Wolfgang Babeck, who was on the flight to Sydney, said that many of the women were distressed when they returned to the plane.
‘When the women came back, many of them or probably all of them were upset – one of them was in tears, a younger woman,’ he told the ABC.
‘People couldn’t believe what had happened.’
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Marise Payne told the Senate the incident had triggered high-level diplomatic meetings.
‘The issues which have been discussed in relation to this matter are very concerning and very distressing,’ she told the committee in Canberra.
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong questioned why the minister had not yet spoken directly with her Qatari counterpart.
The Transport Workers’ Union NSW branch will meet on Thursday to vote on a potential boycott of the government-owned Qatar Airways
Hamad International Airport management said the baby was safe and being cared for by medical and social workers (file image)
‘Surely we know enough to raise our deep concern and express at the most senior levels of government the importance of the report being finalised promptly,’ she said.
But Senator Payne said she was waiting for Qatar’s report into the incident before speaking with the country’s foreign minister.
‘I asked to see the report to get a very clear understanding of events as they had occurred and from the Qatari perspective,’ she said.
Senator Payne said discussions with the Qatari ambassador left her hopeful the report would be available in coming days.
The Transport Workers’ Union NSW branch will meet on Thursday to vote on a potential boycott of the government-owned Qatar Airways.
‘This is just downright sexual assault sanctioned by a government and we can’t have that,’ union boss Richard Olsen told the Nine Network on Wednesday.
Source: Daily Mail AU
Read the original article onAhram Online
