IBARAKI (TR) – Ibaraki Prefectural Police have launched an investigation after the body of a newborn baby with their umbilical cord attached was found in a canal in Joso City on Saturday, reports TV Asahi (Jan. 7).
At around 1 p.m., a man working for a company nearby tipped off police about “what appears to be a fetus” at the bottom of the 25-centimeter-deep waterway, located in Furumaginuma Shinden area.
Police arriving at the canal confirmed the infant dead at the scene. The baby, which weighed 390 grams and measured 29 centimeters in length, was of unknown gender.
The cause of death of the newborn is under investigation, police said.