Parents leave baby behind at Israeli airport check-in

The couple reportedly refused to pay for a ticket for the baby while they were trying to fly from Israel to Brussels.

 Illustrative image of a crying baby in a stroller. (photo credit: FLICKR)
Illustrative image of a crying baby in a stroller.
(photo credit: FLICKR)

Two parents with Belgian passports were detained by police after they left their baby at the check-in at Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport while attempting to fly abroad, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

The couple reportedly arrived at the airport to board a Ryanair flight from Tel Aviv to Brussels, Belgium. However, they didn't have a ticket for their baby. After they refused to pay for another one, they seem to have just left the baby in the stroller as they walked to passport control, according to KAN.

Airport staff noticed what had happened and contacted the police, who found the parents and took them in for questioning.

Why did parents leave their baby at the airport check in?

According to the manager of the Ryanair desk, everyone was in shock. 

"We've never seen anything like this," the manager said, according to N12. "We couldn't believe what we were seeing."

An El Al plane in Ben Gurion Airport (credit: REUTERS)
An El Al plane in Ben Gurion Airport (credit: REUTERS)

"We couldn't believe what we were seeing."

Ryanair manager

According to the Israel Airports Authority, what happened was that the couple arrived late to Terminal 1 after the check-in counter was closed. They wanted to go deal with security and simply left their baby on the conveyor belt at the check-in area, according to N12. 

This is a developing story.