A newborn baby girl was dumped in a rubbish bin before being rescued by hero passers-by in Thailand.

The infant was wrapped in a yellow towel and lying alongside rotting food in the garbage container in the Bang Kapi district of the capital Bangkok early on Tuesday morning December 7.

A motorist named Kittiphan Mongkholkitkun, 31, discovered the child while he was going home from the market before sunrise.

After hearing the baby’s cries, he parked his motorcycle to search for the source of the sound. He rummaged through the bin in front of a shop where rats scurry through the trash and he was shocked to see the little girl inside.

Kittiphan quickly called the police who arrived with paramedics to rescue the abandoned baby girl, whose umbilical cord was still attached. They treated the baby at the scene before she was taken to hospital.

Officers believe the girl had only been born a few hours earlier and they launched a manhunt to find the baby girl’s missing mother.

The police checked CCTV cameras and found a Burmese woman working at a nearby food stall nearby who they believed to be the girl’s mother. Both were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Somprasong Raksakaew, who led the police responding to the call, said: ‘When I first arrived at the scene, I did not know how long the baby had been in the garbage bin or if she would survive.

‘I checked her vital signs and she was breathing so I was relieved. She needed to be cleaned as some of the food was covering her face.

‘I am glad that the baby has reached hospital safely. I have prayed for her to be safe.’

Police said the woman believed to be the mother will be interviewed and charged with child cruelty if she admits dumping her newborn in the bin.