A mother has been arrested for trying to kill her newborn by pushing him down a drain.

The two-day-old boy still had his umbilical cord attached when he was rescued from a shaft in a block of flats near Alicante.

The boy in a one metre-square manhole in a courtyard where drains from the surrounding buildings converged.

It is thought the child, who was found wrapped in a plastic bag with a hole in it to let him breathe, could have been stuck there for up to 40 hours.

Safe now: The baby in the arms of a rescue worker. The two-day-old, who still had his umbilical cord attached, was rescued from a drain in Spain after a 40-hour ordeal

Survivor: The baby suffered a broken arm and other injuries but they are not thought to be life-threatening

Firefighters and police had attended the flat in the working-class Alicante neighbourhood of Virgen del Carmen at 2am this morning after a neighbour called saying they thought there was a meowing cat stuck in the drain.

The 26-year-old mother, who has not been named, was escorted back to the flat yesterday afternoon by police for a scene-of-crime inspection. She has reportedly confessed to officers, saying she did not have enough money for an abortion.

In a statement the Ministry said the mother was under arrest and that an investigation was under way to try and discover whether she acted alone, or if a third party could have been involved.

Social services say they will investigate the newborn’s family set-up before making any decision on his future.

A spokesman for Spain’s national police said: ‘The woman we have arrested is being held on suspicion of attempted murder.’

A woman, 26, is led away after she was arrested for trying to kill the newborn by pushing him down a drain

A view of the Alicante apartment building where a newborn baby was rescued after his mother allegedly threw him down a drainpipe

Reports said she had visited hospital on Friday where she told staff she had had a miscarriage.

The baby, who weighs 4.6lb (2.1kg), is in a serious but not-life threatening condition with a broken arm and other injuries.

One neighbour said: ‘I thought it was a cat that was trapped and the baby’s crying was the meowing.

‘The noise went on for ages so I called the police.

‘One of the firefighters saw one of his tiny feet and realised it wasn’t a cat but a child.’

Last month rescue workers in eastern China had to extract a newborn baby who had become stuck in a sewer pipe after its mother had tried to give birth in secret and said the baby had slipped down a toilet.

City: The two-day-old baby was recovered from a drain in Alicante, Spain (file photo)

Rescue: Last month this baby was cut out of a toilet pipe in east China’s Zhejiang province after his mother tried to give birth in secret

Fight for survival: The newborn baby was rescued by firefighters after being flushed down a toilet

Read more: Daily Mail