A couple from Egypt have been arrested for trying to smuggle their five-month-old baby past officials at Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Arabiya reports that customs officials were "stunned" when the X-ray machine revealed the baby concealed in the mother's handbag on Saturday.
The couple had arrived on Friday, but were denied entry because they did not have a visa or passport for the baby. Airport authorities were allowing them to stay in the airport until the visa office opened on Sunday, according to Emirates 24/7.
But, rather than wait, the couple zipped the boy inside a carry-on bag and tried to sneak him through security, says the New York Daily News. However, 9News explains that all carry-on luggage is scanned on arrival at UAE airports and that's when the baby was discovered.
A police official at the airport told Gulf News: "This machine is very dangerous for anyone, let alone a baby in a bag to pass through . . . They have put the life of their child at risk."
The Sun says it is unclear how the child got onto the aircraft in Egypt without a passport.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing