ごみ収集場に新生児置き去り 作業員が発見 ブラジル

【リオデジャネイロＡＦＰ＝時事】ブラジル・リオデジャネイロで１日、ごみ収集作業員がごみ収集コンテナの隣に放置されていた新生児を発見した。最初は人形が捨てられていると思ったという。（写真は、ブラジル・リオデジャネイロで、ＡＦＰのインタビューに応じながら涙を見せるリオ市都市清掃会社〈ＣＯＭＬＵＲＢ〉のごみ収集作業員サムエル・ダ・シルバ・ドス・サントスさん）
　サムエル・ダ・シルバ・ドス・サントスさんが、ごみが散らかっている道路で箱に入れられた女児を抱いている動画はソーシャルメディアで拡散され、地元では赤ちゃんが生きていたことへの安どや、置き去りにされたことへの怒りの声が上がっている。
　シルバさんはＡＦＰに「とても感動的だ。あの子は勇者だ。再び命を得た」と涙ながらに語った。
　シルバさんとアンデルソン・メンデス・ヌネスさんは深夜、ごみ収集ルートの後半を巡回していた際に市内北部のごみ収集コンテナの隣に置かれた箱の中で赤ちゃんを発見した。
　最初は抱き上げても反応しなかったが、シルバさんが抱きかかえると、赤ちゃんが目を開き始めたという。
　シルバさんは、発見できて幸運だったとし、「普段はシャベルでごみを素早く（ごみ収集車に）投げ入れている。もっとひどいことになっていたかもしれない」と語った。
　地元メディアによると、リオ警察は赤ちゃんの身元特定に努め、誰が置き去りにしたのか捜査を進めている。
　シルバさんらは赤ちゃんを市内の保健当局に引き渡した。健康状態は「安定」しているという。
　３人の父親であるシルバさんは、養子にしたいとの考えも示し、「あの子には愛情を与え、世話をしてくれる人が必要だ」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/04/02-17:27）

A garbage collector in Rio de Janeiro got the surprise of his life on Tuesday when he found a newborn baby, that he first took for a discarded doll, abandoned next to a dumpster.
A video of Samuel da Silva dos Santos holding the baby girl found in a box on a street strewn with trash went viral on social media, sparking a mixture of joy and indignation in the Brazilian seaside city.
The infant, whose bare legs are seen sticking out of a too-small pink blanket, makes no sound in the video but her mouth can be seen twitching.
It's very emotional because she is a warrior, isn't she? She was born again, Silva told AFP later through tears.
Although she did not react at first to being picked up, when Silva took her in his arms, I think she felt more cuddled and a bit warmer. It was then that she began to open her eyes (...) it's surreal, Silva's garbage truck partner Anderson Mendes Nunes added.
The pair found the baby in a box next to a dumpster in the north of the city, as they were nearing the end of their route in the middle of the night.
Rio police are trying to identify the child and to discover who abandoned her, local media reported.
The pair handed the little girl over to Rio's health services, which later declared her to be in stable condition.
Silva said they were lucky they spotted the baby.
We usually work quickly with shovels, tossing it (the garbage into the truck). It could have been worse, he said.
A father of three, he says he wants to adopt the little girl.
She needs someone who will give her love, who will give her care, he said emotionally.
He said the incident brought back memories of a tragic find 18 years ago, when he discovered the body of a baby in the garbage.
Social media users were torn between sympathy for the situation of the absent mother and anger.
I can't imagine the desperation that led to this decision, one person wrote on X.
How can someone do that to their own daughter? another wondered.