Parents leave newborn baby in taxi on way home from hospital

Driver pulls away without realising he has a stowaway

The taxi driver did not find the baby until he picked up a fare at Hamburg airport, above (qwesy qwesy/Wikimedia)

A mother and father had the fright of their lives after accidentally leaving their newborn baby in the taxi that had taken them home from hospital.

The pair, from Hamburg in Germany, took their new baby’s one-year-old sibling out of the car before paying the driver and bidding him farewell, police said.

It was only when the cab pulled away that they realised their mistake.

The father failed in an attempt to catch up with his itinerant infant on foot.

The taxi driver was unaware he had a sleeping stowaway and parked his vehicle in an underground garage during his lunch break.

But when he later picked up a fare at the airport, the baby made its presence known.

The driver quickly called police and after a quick check-up from an ambulance crew the baby and its grateful parents were reunited, police said.

Additional reporting by AP