Body of unidentified toddler retrieved from Manila Bay

MANILA, Philippines—The decomposing body of a male child was fished out of the bay waters off Binondo in Manila by coast guard personnel on Wednesday morning, the police said.

Senior Police Officer 2 Milbert Balinggan, of the Manila Police District homicide section, described the boy to be between two and three years old and wearing a blue sleeveless shirt marked “Sesame Street” and a pair of fatigue shorts.

Balinggan said the body, which was already bloated and in advanced state of decomposition, might have already been in the water for two days and had simply drifted to the shore of Del Pan Wharf in Binondo.

The case investigator said the body was spotted at around 6 a.m. Wednesday by personnel of the Del Pan Coast Guard Detachment and was subsequently retrieved by divers of the Coast Guard Special Operations Group.

Two families, one based in Quezon City, who reported a child missing in the past two or three days, have viewed the body but neither one was able to identify the toddler.

The body was brought to the St. Yvan funeral parlor for autopsy and safekeeping.