Passengers in desperate battle to revive baby found lifeless on East London bus

Scene: The baby was found unresponsive on a bus in Carpenters Road, Stratford
Barney Davis
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A man told today how passengers tried to revive a baby found lifeless on a bus in east London.

Police are investigating the death of the three-month-old girl after she was found in an “unresponsive” state on the No 25 bus in Stratford on Wednesday.

A 27-year-old woman accompanying the child was held on suspicion of murder, and a 52-year-old man was arrested later on suspicion of murder at a home in Newham.

Mostafa Rahman, 27, was travelling to work on the bus when he saw the baby “lifeless” and “frozen” in a pram in the area for disabled people and parents with children.

He said onlookers were “screaming” as two women tried to save the child. He said: “I came down from the top deck and as soon as I saw the baby I knew it was dead.”

He added: “I told the bus to stop because I thought the baby needed assistance.

“The bus stopped and I got a jacket from the top of the pram and put it on the ground and two ladies who were also on the bus put the baby on the jacket on the floor and were trying really hard to revive it. They were giving CPR, really pumping its chest and blowing into its mouth.”

He added: “I dialled 999 and they were giving instructions on how to give medical treatment to the baby. The women were just following this but then after 10 minutes or so they realised the baby was dead. They tried their best.

“The ambulance people turned up and then just put the baby in the ambulance and took it away. There were also a few other ladies on the bus who were screaming. It was very dramatic and traumatic.”

The child went in the ambulance to an east London hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The arrested man and woman remained in custody at separate east London police stations today.

A post-mortem examination on the unidentified baby was due to take place today at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes said: “The death of any child is tragic and we would appeal for anyone with information to please come forward as soon as possible to help with our enquiries.”

Anyone who can help is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 1570 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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