Major Nguyen Dang Manh, deputy head of Hanoi's Gia Lam District Police,
holds a newborn baby he helped rescue from a gap between two houses,
August 18, 2020. Photo courtesy of Gia Lam District police. 

Hanoi residents and firemen have saved a newborn baby boy who’d been abandoned in a narrow gap between two houses, authorities said Wednesday. 

Major Nguyen Dang Manh, deputy head of the capital city’s Gia Lam District Police, said the rescue took place Tuesday, soon after residents of an alley on Dao Nguyen A Street in Gia Lam District spotted the infant and reported it to the authorities.

When firemen arrived at around 6 p.m., many residents were already using drills and chisels to open the crack in order to extract the baby. The gap between the two houses where the baby was deposited was around 20 cm wide.

The gap between two houses in Trau Quy town in Gia Lam District, Hanoi where
a newborn baby was abandoned and later rescued, August 18, 2020.
Photo courtesy of Gia Lam District police.

A resident living nearby said he heard a baby crying and decided to drill the wall to save it with his neighbor's help. They were later joined by other residents and the police.

The baby was successfully rescued. He had suffered a few scratches and his umbilical cord was still intact. He was not clothed.

"When we reached him and saw him move and in good health, we were all moved," Major Manh said.

According to the firemen, the baby was likely abandoned about two hours before he was found. He is currently being treated at the St. Paul Hospital in Hanoi.

Local authorities in Trau Quy Town where the baby was found said they are trying to identify his family members.