Rescue of a Syrian child from drowning... and the Youth Welfare Office takes the two children!
A four-year-old Syrian child nearly drowned in the Danube Canal in Vienna after getting lost from his mother during a walk, and he was not reported missing until nine hours later. The incident led to strict decisions by the Jugendamt (Vienna's Child and Youth Welfare Agency), which removed the family's two children from their parents.
The child was taken to the hospital after construction workers found him floating motionless on the surface of the water near the Augartenbrücke bridge. One of the workers rescued him at the last moment and began resuscitation immediately. The child was unable to provide any information other than his name due to his lack of proficiency in German, which made it difficult for the police to identify his parents.
The parents, who are of Syrian origin, did not report their son's disappearance to the police until 9 PM, even though the child was rescued in the afternoon. According to the father's statement, who is 40 years old, he was with his wife and their younger child after they dropped off their older son (7 years old) at school, then they separated, and the mother was alone with the child who later went missing.
When the mother (42 years old) could not find her son, she informed her husband and they began searching in different areas such as Neue Donau, the Islamic center, and the Frieden bridge. When they were unable to find him, they finally went to the police, claiming that the child had been missing for only two hours. But the police told them that the child had been found at noon.
The authorities reported that the family had been under the supervision of Jugendamt for two years and had received educational consultations. Despite good cooperation in the past, the recent incident prompted them to decide to transfer the older child to an emergency center, and his younger brother will join him after leaving the hospital. A decision was also made to prevent the delivery of the two children to their parents.
The child is currently in the regular care department of the hospital, and he is interacting and speaking normally. The mother has been charged with neglect as she was responsible for him at the time of the incident, while the father is considered a witness in the case.