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A 13-month-old baby has died in a foster home that protects children before adoption.
However, burn marks and bruises were found on her face and body, and the police launched an investigation.
Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon reports.
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An apartment complex in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do.
An ambulance and a police car enter one after another.
Yesterday (2nd) around 2 am, a report was received by 119 that a 13-month-old boy living here was not breathing.
When paramedics arrived, the baby was already in cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Paramedics and medical staff confirmed second-degree burns on the baby's face and bruises on the thigh, and reported suspected child abuse to the police.
[Namyangju Pyeongnae 119 Safety Center: When the blisters come off due to burns on the face, not anywhere else, normal parents treat them, but when I asked if they didn't go to the hospital, they said they didn't...
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This family was a place where children were taken care of by a child adoption agency and looked after until adoption.
A couple in their 40s, who have been raising the baby since last November, said the burns on their faces were caused by taking a hot bath the day before.
The adoption agency, the Korean Social Welfare Society, checks the baby's condition once a month, but when the foster caretaker brought the baby in for inspection last month, there were no suspicions of abuse.
[Korea Social Welfare Association: According to the consignment (mother) statement, I slept with milk at night, but the child woke up once at dawn and vomited, then calmed down again and put her to sleep. …
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In addition, the couple has been providing temporary protection for six or seven children for over five years, and the Welfare Society explained that there were no problems.
After an autopsy is conducted to determine the cause of death, the police plan to launch a full-scale investigation into the couple.