A newborn baby girl was found abandoned at a construction site in Port Shepstone yesterday at around noon. Mi7 Emergency Medical Services arrived to find the baby, believed to be only a few hours old, in a hypothermic state.

Rudi Prinsloo of Mi7 said medics worked quickly to stabilise the newborn before transporting the child to a nearby hospital. “It is believed the owner of a nearby hardware store found the baby abandoned in a shallow hole adjacent to a construction site,” he says.

The owner of the store immediately rushed to purchase a blanket to wrap around the infant before medics arrived. Police are investigating the matter.