Newborn baby found dead in bin in La Bisbal d'Empordà

A newborn baby was found dead in a bin in the center of the northern Catalan town of La Bisbal d'Empordà on Tuesday morning. 

The body was discovered with the umbilical cord still attached by a refuse collector at around 7:30am on a small square on Carrer Germans Sitjar. 

The refuse worker immediately alerted the emergency services and local police, who arrived at the scene within minutes. 

A police investigation is underway, led by the Mossos d'Esquadra's Criminal Investigation Unit in Girona. Police are reviewing CCTV footage in the area. 

The body was discovered in a very central part of the town, in a pedestrianized area in the old quarter. 

The newborn was already dead when the refuse worker found the body, according to the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

Several units from the Medical Emergency Service (SEM) were dispatched to the scene and confirmed the baby's death. 

A team of psychologists attended to the refuse worker who discovered the body. 

The Mossos and local police closed access to the square where the bin was located until around 11:30am when a van from the funeral home arrived and took the baby's body away. The streets were later reopened.

The mayor of Bisbal d'Empordà, Òscar Aparicio, said that he, along with the whole city, "deeply" lamented what had happened. Aparicio also confirmed that it was a municipal worker who found the body. 

"Right now we cannot tell you anything more than what is known, because the case is now being investigated by the Mossos d'Esquadra investigation team. All we can do is regret what has happened," he concluded.