Baby Found Dead, Buried In Sand In Australia

SYDNEY (AP) — Two young boys playing on a Sydney beach on Sunday found an infant's body buried in the sand, police said, one week after a newborn baby was discovered alive at the bottom of a drain in the city's suburbs.

The boys, ages 6 and 7, discovered the infant's naked body while digging in the sand at Sydney's popular Maroubra beach on Sunday morning, New South Wales state police Inspector Andrew Holland said.

The body was too decomposed for officials to immediately determine the baby's age, gender or cause of death, Holland said, adding that it appeared to be "a very small infant." An autopsy will be performed.

The discovery comes one week after a group of cyclists rescued an infant whose cries they heard coming from the bottom of a roadside drain in a Sydney suburb. Police said the baby had spent five days in the drain. The baby's mother has been charged with attempted murder.

Officials on Sunday said they were hunting through hospital records to try and find the parents of the baby buried at the beach. The boys who discovered the infant were receiving counseling.

"Police are concerned about the welfare of the mother involved and hope she sought medical assistance," Holland told reporters.